


Some Kind Of Monster

by LauraB1983NL



Series: Winters War [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Adamantium, Agents of SHIELD, Alternate Universe, Anxiety, Blood and Injury, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Has Nightmares, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fanfiction, Flashbacks, GH-325, Gaslighting, HYDRA Trash Party, Hallucinations, Hydra (Marvel), Inhumans (Marvel), Marvel Universe, Memory Loss, Missions Gone Wrong, Multi, Mutant Powers, Nightmares, No Timeline, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Physical Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Stockholm Syndrome, Super Soldier Serum, Suspense, Terrigen Crystals (Marvel), Terrigenesis (Marvel), The Playground Base (Marvel), Torture, cognitive behavioral conditioning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-24 19:28:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 66,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21503830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LauraB1983NL/pseuds/LauraB1983NL
Summary: The Avengers are ambushed by a lost friend, but with friends becoming enemies, who’s the real enemy here?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), Sam Wilson (Marvel)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Winters War [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1327187
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have fun reading! Don't forget to leave a comment!

It was a breezy morning.

He walked through the woods along the Hudson River in upstate New York. In his left hand he had a bouquet of white roses, and in his right, a small camel brown teddy bear with a red shirt, which he had won on Coney Island a few days ago. Under his arm, a big bottle of fresh water. 

After a while he arrived at the grave. It was nothing more than a tombstone the size of a sidewalk slab, and a plastic case for flowers. The Avengers had decided for her safety not to put Julia’s name on the stone, only a white star, nor to bury her in a public cemetery. 

Bucky kneeled in front of the stone and placed the teddy bear in the center of it. He took the plastic vase in his hand, removed the dead white roses, threw the withered flowers aside, and washed the vase with the bottle of water.

After that, he filled it with fresh water, put in the new white roses and placed it at a corner of the grave. His fingers moved over the stone and he heard Julia’s final words in the back of his mind;

_“I'm… s-sorry”_

It had all happened a month ago, but for Bucky it felt like yesterday. A tear escaped his eye as he took a deep breath. After a minute he stood up and walked away, back to the Avengers Facility.

Bucky and Steve had moved to the facility after HYDRA found out where their safe house was. According to Nick Fury it was better for them to live safely in the compound.

After a ten minute walk, Bucky arrived at the facility. He went to the kitchen corner of the lounge area and prepared a coffee for himself. With a mug full of black hot liquid, he took a seat on one of the bar stools. He had a sip and put the mug down in front of him. He grabbed the morning newspaper and started to read the two comics in the entertainment section. He smiled at a funny Garfield comic. He took another sip of his coffee as he started to read the second comic about James Bond. He shook his head as he finished it.

“Why does it always end when it gets exciting?” he mumbled to himself.

He looked at the fruit bowl in front of him and picked an apple. He took a large bite and wiped the juice from his chin as he chewed on the piece. He looked at the newspaper again, flipped the page and started to read the sports section. Suddenly a hand slapped down on the paper.

“Last word you read?”

Bucky coughed as the scare caused a drop of apple juice to go down the wrong way.

“What the hell, Sam!” Bucky called out loud between the coughs, as Sam started laughing.

“You were deep in thought, dude!”

Bucky just sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Tell me, what was the last word you read?” Sam asked again with a smirk on his face.

“I didn’t even started reading that damn page, you brat!” Bucky said, annoyed.

Just then Tony and Steve walked into the kitchen.

“Okay kiddos. Fight time is over,” Tony said, acting like a father. He walked over to the fridge and took out a pre-prepared green smoothie. “Save the aggression for when we need it.” He walked away, drinking.

Steve looked at Tony as he left the kitchen. He looked back at Bucky and took a seat next to him.

“How was the visit?” Steve asked.

“It was okay. Refreshed the flowers and placed the bear on her stone,” Bucky said slightly mournfully, after a sip of his coffee. “I hope she’ll like it.”

“Of course she will,” Sam reassured him, leaning against the bar, on Bucky’s other side. “Every girl likes Winnie the Pooh.”

But Steve noticed Bucky wasn’t really listening to Sam. He was staring at his apple. He rolled the fruit in his flesh hand. He placed it on the counter, slid off his stool, and walked away. Sam and Steve looked at him as he left.

Outside the compound, Bucky stared over the river. The wind blew through his long, brown hair as he stared into the far distance. After a moment he looked at the sky and saw how the clouds were moving. He released a trembling sigh as Steve stood next to him. Bucky looked at him.

“I was so stupid,” Bucky said softly, guilt in his voice. He looked back to the sky. “So damn stupid.”

“You weren’t stupid, Buck. It was just your emotions while you told her the truth.” Steve placed a hand on his shoulder, which made Bucky look at his friend. “Pierce was the one who was stupid. Remember that.” 

Bucky nodded. “Wanda felt she was done living. Who knows what Pierce and HYDRA did to her.”

Bucky sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “Dammit,” he mumbled. He let his hands fall. He remembered the information from when he hacked HYDRA. “She wasn’t long into HYDRA. But she was long enough to be messed up by them,” he said. He looked at Steve. “And if Fury is right, about HYDRA making a new army with new Winter Soldiers, then we’re not finished with them.” Bucky was slightly panicked, and Steve noticed it. He grasped his friend’s shoulder more firmly.

“Stay calm. We will work it out,” Steve reassured him.

Bucky became slightly calmer as he looked back at the river. He nodded.

“We will work it out,” Bucky repeated softly.

* * *

Daniel Whitehall and Madam HYDRA returned to their base in the Swiss Alps, after having been absent for a month and a half. They had been informed about what happened during their absence. The staff had already cleaned up the worst of the mess The Avengers had caused. The bodies of the dead soldiers and Crossbones had been cremated. Pierce’s body was still missing. The hole in the wall was being restored.

Whitehall entered his office, went to the mini bar and poured a glass of whiskey. With the glass in his hand, he went to the window behind his desk and looked out over the Alps. A moment later, Madam HYDRA entered the office.

“Security cameras have shown that the Avengers captured our subject while she was severely wounded and took her away,” she stated.

“Hack every computer of the Swiss and US hospital systems to find where she is hospitalized! We must find her to proceed with the project!” Whitehall ordered, as he gazed out of the window.

Madam HYDRA nodded, turned, and left the room.

* * *

_He was surrounded by darkness as he fell to his knees. He looked at his hands, which were covered with blood. In front of him was a female body. Her black tank top was soaked with blood, her blond hair was greasy and her green eyes were empty. Pale skin and lips, blood dripping out of her nose and the corner of her mouth. He laid a hand over her cheek as tears welled up in his eyes. Her skin was cold as ice. He looked up when he heard a laugh he had wished he would never hear again. A man in a shadow pointed a gun at him. Smoke was leaving the muzzle. Anger started to boil in his blood and his fists started to shake. The man smiled at him. With a scream he jumped at him and punched him in the face._

“Buck, stop!”

His eyes snapped open. Quickly he looked around and saw Sam laying on the floor with his hand over his eye. He was groaning in pain. Steve was holding Bucky’s shoulders as Bucky breathed rapidly. Sweat covered his upper body.

“It’s just a dream, Bucky. Calm down,” he heard Steve saying.

But Bucky’s mind wasn’t on earth. He stared at the floor while his breathing almost went out of control. Wanda walked over to him and stroked his head with a glowing hand. She closed her eyes as she read his mind. Slowly his breathing became calm. Steve released his shoulders. After a moment Wanda opened her eyes. Tears welled up in Bucky’s eyes. She stopped stroking his hair and embraced him, allowed him to cry on her shoulder. Steve looked at them with sorrow. Behind him, Sam stood up and walked to the bed. He laid a hand on Bucky’s back. The mourning soldier looked up at him.

“I’m sorry,” Bucky whispered during a sob, guilt in his voice.

Sam smiled at him.

“It’s okay,” he said reassuringly.

Minutes later Bucky was asleep, thanks to a sedative given by Bruce Banner. Sam, Steve and Wanda were sitting in the lounge area as Bruce came in. Sam had a bag of ice on his eye, relieving the pain from the punch.

“The sedative is doing its job now. He is sleeping,” Bruce informed them.

“Thank you,” Steve said.

“I’m going back to bed. If you need anything you can wake me up.”

Steve nodded and Bruce went back to his room. Steve looked at Wanda.

“Could you read his mind?” he asked.

She nodded.

“He dreamed about Julia and Pierce again.”

Steve bowed his head and sighed.

“Will this ever stop?”

“I think not.” Wanda answered. “His mind is very traumatized. “It’s filled with anger towards HYDRA. Compounded with sorrow and guilt about Julia.”

“Oh God,” Steve murmured as he rubbed his face with both hands. “Anything we can do?” he wondered as he released his face.

“With a troubled mind like his, it will take a long time with therapy. It can take months or maybe even years,” Sam explained as he adjust the bag on his eye.

Steve placed his elbows on his knees, his fingers wrapped together. For a moment he was thinking.

“You think we can give it a shot?”

“With the help of Banner I guess we can try. He can do the evaluation while I can do the rest,” Sam said after he shrugged one shoulder. “But Bucky has to agree with it.”

“You really think Banner can do that?” they heard a voice.

All three looked up at the entrance and saw Tony leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.

“How long have you been standing there?” Sam asked as he removed the bag.

“Long enough to hear that Metallica has a troubled mind,” Tony answered as he walked to the kitchenette to pour in a mug of coffee.

Sam looked at Wanda.

“Couldn’t you warn us?” he asked softly.

She rolled her eyes slightly at him.

“Believe me, he tried to do therapy with me years ago,” Tony continued, after he took a sip of his coffee. “He just don’t have the patience for doing that kind of stuff.”

“But that was years ago, like you said. He now has a bachelor’s degree in mental health counseling,” Steve said.

But Tony didn’t listen while Steve talked. He walked off with a wave, drinking his coffee.

“Just send him back to Wakanda,” Tony called out from the hallway.

Steve bowed his head again, not knowing what to do. Then he stood up.

“We will continue discussing this in the morning. We all need some sleep,” he said as he left the lounge.

* * *

The next morning Whitehall sat in his office, eating his English breakfast at a long conference table. He stabbed his fork into a sausage, cut a slice and put it in his mouth. As he chewed on his meat, he read the newspaper. Madam HYDRA entered and he looked up at her.

“She is not to be found in the systems of the requested hospitals. Not even in other countries. She must be with the Avengers in secret,” she told him. “I want to send one of our Inhumans to their facility and search for her.”

Whitehall wiped his mouth with a tissue.

“I trust you to do what needs to be done.”

Madam HYDRA nodded firmly, turned around and marched away.

* * *

Bucky opened his eyes. First thing he saw was his digital alarm clock, 11:25am. He moaned as he rubbed over his face with his flesh hand. He felt like he had been hit by a train. Slowly he sat up, still drowsy from the drug. Carefully he left his bed and stumbled to the toilet. He decided to sit on the toilet seat to do his business.

“Bucky?” he heard somebody calling.

Steve looked around in Bucky’s room, searching for his friend.

“Steve?”

Steve looked around and saw his friend leaning in the doorway of the bathroom. With a soft curse he went to him and held up his friend.

“Why did you leave your bed?” Steve asked as he supported Bucky back to his bed.

“Am I supposed to take a piss in bed?” Bucky asked annoyed but tired.

Steve let him sit on the edge of the bed. Bucky released a big breath as he sat down.

“Holy cow. What the hell did he gave me?” he wondered as he massaged his temples with his fingers.

“Just a milligram of Lorazepam,” Bruce answered as he went inside Bucky’s room. “How do you feel?”

He dropped himself sideways into his pillow.

“Like shit,” he mumbled. “I have the feeling I could sleep forever.”

“Then sleep some more,” Steve advised as he moved Bucky’s legs onto the bed and laid the blanket over his body. “We will check on you in a couple of hours.”

Bucky closed his eyes and fell asleep again. Bruce and Steve left his room.

“I guess this dose was too heavy for him,” Bruce mumbled to Steve.

“For me it’s important that he gets his rest, with or without the drug. He really needs it,” Steve said. “I want to ask you a favor.” They stopped walking and stood in the middle of the hallway. “If Bucky agrees, would you evaluate him for mental therapy? He has too much on his mind.”

Bruce was not expecting this question. He blinked his eyes a few times.

“Well yes, of course. I will do that first and then I’ll see which treatment will help him.”

Steve smiled at him.

“Thank you.”

Hours later, Bucky woke up again, this time less drowsy. He took his journal from the night table and wrote down his thoughts and dreams. He finished writing, and carefully got out of bed. He walked to his bathroom to have a shower. After getting clean he put on black sweatpants with a grey sweater and white sneakers. He left his room to go to the shared kitchen. Out of the cabinet he took a bowl and a package of Kellogg’s cereal. He poured a portion into the bowl. Then he went to the fridge for the milk and poured it in as well. Stirring with a spoon he walked to a lounge chair and took a seat. While eating, he looked at the view. The Hudson River was calm, and the wind moved the trees slightly. Birds were flying by.

“Are you going to clean up this shit?”

Bucky abruptly came out of his relaxing moment. He looked at the kitchen and saw Clint holding up his arms towards the mess.

“Because I’m not going to clean somebody else’s shit,” Clint said, annoyed.

“I will. Just give me a moment,” Bucky replied as he looked back out of the window.

“Oh,” Clint reacted by crossing his arms over his chest. “And how long will this moment take?”

Bucky put his bowl to his lips and drank the last little bit of milk. Then he stood up and walked to the kitchen. While he looked at Clint he made another portion of cereal. Then he placed the package back where it belonged.

“Happy now?” Bucky asked before he took a bite.

“Yeah. Thank you!”

Bucky saluted him with the spoon in his mouth and went back to his seat. Clint opened the fridge and took out a box of eggs. He took out three eggs and put the box back. He cracked the eggs into a bowl, add some herbs and seasoning and started to whisk it. Then he fried the mixture in a pan with some butter. Wanda walked into the kitchen.

“Smells good,” she complimented him after a few sniffs.

“Thank you,” Clint remarked as he slid his omelet onto his plate.

Wanda went to the cabinet and took out a package of tiny chocolate muffins. She opened the package and took out one muffin. She placed it back in the cabinet and closed it. Out of the fridge she took out a small bottle of apple juice. She walked to Bucky and took a seat close to him.

Clint glanced at them and decided to leave. Wanda and Bucky watched him as he left.

“How do you feel now?” she asked Bucky before she took a small bite from her muffin.

“I guess I’m okay,” Bucky then answered. He looked at Wanda. “It was horrible, huh?”

She took a deep breath.

“Yes, it was.”

“Every time I dream about her…it feels so real. Just like in this one. Her skin felt cold. I could smell the blood on her clothing.” He shivered and looked at her. She was listening with slight disgust. “Sorry, didn’t want to ruin your appetite.”

“It’s okay,” Wanda reassured him. “Did you also ever had pleasant dreams about her?”

He took a bite of his lunch and was thinking while he chewed. He smiled, which made Wanda smile.

“Yeah, I can remember one where we just held each other. Her ear on my chest, listening to my heartbeat,” he explained after he swallowed his food. He looked at Wanda. “The sound of my heartbeat made her calm. That’s what she told me in my dream.”

Wanda’s smile grew. She laid a hand on his arm and stroked it.

“That’s nice.”

Suddenly shivers went through her spine. She looked over her shoulder and looked around the area. Bucky wondered what it was. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I feel a third person here, but I see nobody else.”

Bucky also looked around the area. He stood up and walked around. He looked around the room, searching for something out of place.

Quickly Wanda glanced at the entrance, her hands glowing. In a reaction to Wanda, Bucky grabbed a butcher knife from a knife block to use as a weapon. They both were relieved to see Scott Lang standing there.

“Uhm….hello?” he greeted them, feeling awkward.

“Did you just go from ant size to human size?” Bucky asked as he slid the knife back into the block.

Scott shook his head, slightly scared.

“It wasn’t him I felt. It was somebody unknown,” Wanda said. “But it’s gone now.”

“Oh… okay… so it’s safe now?” Scott wondered, still slightly scared.

“Yes it’s safe now,” Wanda answered while she nodded.

* * *

In the middle of the woods, a few minutes from the facility, a man with brown hair and sunglasses was waiting. He looked to his right as he saw another man’s body slowly reappear.

“I’ve almost got caught,” the newcomer said, while he recovered his breath.

“Glad it didn’t happen, Dave. Could you find her?” the man with the sunglasses replied.

Dave shook his head.

“Damn!”

“Hey, easy, Lex! Who knows but they may have hidden her in another country with a new identity.”

Lex crossed his arms over his chest, thinking about the next move.

“Let’s go back to the helicopter,” Dave suggested.

The two men walked through the woods. On their way they saw a fox sniffing around. Lex looked at the fox and saw something orange-brown and fluffy in the dirt. He tapped Dave on the shoulder as a sign to follow him. The fox looked up and ran away. When the men came closer they saw the slab with the white star. Lex took off his sunglasses and stared for a moment at the grave. Astonishment came over his face.

“What?” Dave asked curious.

Lex put on his glasses, looked at his co-worker and smiled.

“We’ve found her.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have fun reading! Don't forget to leave a comment!

Bucky and Wanda entered the conference room. Steve, Sam and Bruce were waiting for them. Bucky and Wanda took a seat. He looked at Sam and saw his black eye.

“How is the eye?” he asked worried.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry, it was an accident.”

Bucky, relieved, smiled at him and looked at Steve with a serious face.

“You wanted to speak with me?”

“Yes,” Steve answered. “We are very worried about you.” Bucky looked at him, amazed. “Your nightmares emerged since we lost Julia. This isn’t good for your health, Buck.”

Sadness manifested on Bucky’s face as Steve mentioned her name.

“We want to offer you some therapy,” Sam added. Bucky looked up at Sam, slightly shocked. “Don’t worry. I will give you the treatments.”

The mourning soldier swallowed and nodded.

“What kind of therapy?” he asked.

“We don’t know yet. To find out, I would like to evaluate you,” Bruce told.

“Like you did with…” He sighed and closed his eyes. “…with Julia?” His voice trembled when he said her name.

He opened his eyes and looked at the doctor. Bruce nodded. Bucky looked at Steve and then at Sam, not knowing what to say or do. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, which made him look around to see who it was.

“It’s okay,” Wanda comforted him while she stroked his shoulder and back. “Your head is filled with horrible memories and dreams. Give it a try.” 

Bucky got up and walked to the other side of the room. He stood still in a corner, lost in his own mind, stroking his index and middle finger over his lips. The other Avengers left him there for a minute. He closed his eyes to enable deeper thought. After several minutes he took a deep breath and returned to the others. He stood between Wanda and Steve. He swallowed and could only nod.

“Is that a yes for the therapy?” Steve asked, just to be sure.

“Yes,” Bucky answered softly, feeling slightly ashamed.

“Bucky?” He looked up at Sam. “Don’t be ashamed. There are a lot of men with the same struggles and need for help.”

He could only nod again, and tried to let Sam’s words sink in.

* * *

In the meantime, Scott walked outside the facility. He saw a helicopter rising up from the woods. Confused, he watched it as it flew out of sight. He went back into the facility. In the lounge area he saw Clint, lying on the couch watching television.

Both men were staying in the compound temporarily after a mission, so they could have their rest before returning to their families. Scott was the newest addition to the team, and was still learning.

“Hey, since when do you have a helicopter?” Scott wondered.

“We don’t have one,” Clint answered.

“Well, I saw one climb up from the woods. You sure about it?”

Clint looked up at him.

“Yes, I’m sure,” he answered, a little bit annoyed.

Scott mumbled an okay and took a seat on another couch. He leaned with his elbow on the armrest of the couch and his chin on his fist. His leg went up and down quickly. Clint looked at him, still annoyed.

“Hey sit still. I’m watching a movie here!”

Scott bust out of the couch and hurried out of the area. Clint shook his head while he watched him leaving. While he walked, Scott was nervously clamping his hand into a fist. He was deep in thought about the helicopter when he bumped into Natasha. He looked at her in shock.

“Oh, sorry,” he apologized.

“It’s okay,” she said with a smile. She looked at him and saw a thoughtful grimace on his face.

“Something wrong?”

Scott sighed, looked around, and then looked at Natasha.

“Do you have…helicopters? Because I saw one rising up from the woods.”

Natasha looked at him, confused.

“Are you sure about that?”

Scott hung his head.

“You don't want to believe me either,” he mumbled.

“I do want to believe. Tell me, what color was it?”

Scott closed his eyes and tried to remember.

“It was black,” he answered, as he looked back at Natasha.

“Anything else? A logo or something?” Natasha suggested. Scott shook his head. “Okay. So a black helicopter. Which direction did it go?”

“It went south. Aren’t there like, security cameras?”

“No, only here inside the facility,” she answered.

“Wanda felt somebody, earlier today,” Scott explained. Natasha looked more confused. “But couldn’t see whoever it was she felt.”

“Are you….”

“Yes! I’m sure!” Scott interrupted. “She thought it was me because I kind of disturbed her and Bucky’s conversation.”

“I’m going to inform the others,” Natasha said, and walked off.

* * *

Whitehall stared out of the window into the darkness of the night.

“Sir!” Madam HYDRA called out while she rushed inside the room. “They have found the subject!” He turned around and looked at her delighted. “They say they have found her, dead and buried. They are now taking her to the laboratories in Delaware.”

“That is good news, my dear.”

“Also, new footage from the security cameras. The subject murdered Rumlow with her powers.”

Whitehall’s eyes grew big with delight.

“I believe we have a new project,” he said, with a pleasant tone in his voice. Madam HYDRA smiled at him. 

“Discontinue The Winter Soldier Project and move to Delaware! We are starting now with…” A smile on his lips appeared. “the Destroyer of Lives.” 

“Hail HYDRA!” Madam HYDRA called out with a salute and rushed out of the vicinity.

* * *

Every Avenger had been gathered by Natasha around the conference table. Even Tony came back from his rebuilt Stark Tower in Manhattan, where he lived with Pepper.

“Glad all of you could come,” Natasha started. “Something Scott told me has concerned me”

Clint rolled his eyes. “Is it about the helicopter?” He sounded annoyed.

“Helicopter?” Steve reacted and looked at Tony.

“I don’t have any helicopters,” Tony defended himself.

Steve looked back at Scott.

“Can you tell us more about it?”

“It was black and flew south,” Scott explained.

“Where did you see it?” Bucky asked.

“It flew up from the woods, about 500 feet from the north wing.”

“Are you sure?” Tony asked.

“Yes!” Scott answered, with a firm nod.

“I don’t believe it. Unless….” Tony looked at Wanda. “She can confirm it.”

Wanda looked at him, slightly shocked.

“You want me to look inside his head?” Tony nodded at her. She looked at Scott. “You okay about that?”

“Uhm…well…”

“What? Any dirty secrets you’re hiding?” Clint remarked, as he settled his feet on the conference table, hands folded behind his head. Scott seemed a little startled as he looked at Clint. “Well if you have them, spit it out,” Clint said with a smirk on his lips.

Scott looked quickly at Wanda.

“Okay, let’s do it.”

Wanda stood up and walked over to him, while he sat straight up. He rubbed his hand. He closed his eyes and was ready for action. She stood in front of him and moved her glowing hand in front of his forehead. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. Everybody looked at them in suspense. After a moment she removed her hand and turned around. She looked at Clint, then Tony and as final she looked at Steve. She took a trembling breath.

“It’s true. A black helicopter went up from the north side of the facility and flew south. No insignia on the aircraft,” she reported.

Scott looked at a startled Clint.

“See? I told you.”

Suddenly Bucky stood up from his seat and ran out of the conference room.

“Buck!” Steve called out, but the soldier had already left.

He was running through the forest. His heart beat in his throat, his eyes were big as plates from the fear. He arrived at the grave and looked at every detail. Soon, Sam, Steve and Wanda arrived.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked concerned.

“Something is not right,” Bucky answered, panting for breath.

Steve looked at the stone, the stuffed animal and the flowers. He smiled and laid a soothing hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“It’s beautiful, Bucky. You did a great job.”

“No,” Bucky said as he shook his head. “The bear, I placed it in the middle of the stone and it’s now in the right corner where the flowers are supposed to be.” He tilted his head slightly and pinched his eyes. “And the stone. It’s twisted.”

Without questioning Wanda knelt in front of the grave, and touched it. Suddenly she let out a scream as flashes of two men appeared in her mind. She felt sideways, holding her head. Sam caught her before she could land in the dirt. Steve and Bucky looked at her in shock.

“What happened?” Sam asked her, concerned.

Wanda looked at him and then at the two men, while she was recovering her breath. Terror in her eyes. Suddenly Bucky fell on his knees, threw the slab away and started digging in the dirt.

“Buck, what are…?” Steve asked, but got cut off by his friend.

“Help me dig!” the soldier demanded. 

Steve knelt next to his friend and helped him dig. Soon they received help from Sam and Wanda too.

After an hour of digging with their hands they reached the coffin. It was slightly open. Bucky jumped into the grave and removed the cover. Life drained out of his body. He wanted to scream, but the horror prevented him. He looked up at Steve, and saw he had got pale too. Wanda covered her mouth with her hands and burst out in tears, while Sam held her close as he looked in shock at the empty coffin. 

Julia was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have fun reading! Don't forget to leave a comment!

“You did WHAT?” Tony exclaimed, shocked and amazed.

“We couldn’t bury her at an ordinary cemetery because of HYDRA,” Natasha explained, after they had explained Tony about Julia’s situation.

Tony sighed as he laid down on a couch. He pinched the bridge of his nose, with his eyes closed. 

“You know, that name… Julia Berger. It sounds familiar but I don’t know where from,” he mumbled.

“If you have a very well secured computer or laptop, I can show you information about her,” Bucky suggested.

Tony looked at him, not knowing whether to trust him.

“You can trust him,” Steve said.

Tony sat up, took out a device that looked like a remote control and pushed a button. A screen appeared out of the ceiling, above the coffee table.

“It has access to the internet. Use the SHIELD search bar instead of Google.”

Bucky stood up and gazed at the screen.

“It has touch screen. Just touch it and a keyboard will appear,” Tony explained.

With a trembling finger, because of this unfamiliar technology, he tapped on the screen. A digital keyboard appeared. He took a deep breath as he tapped in the name of HYDRA’s secret website. After logging in, he searched for Julia’s data. Everybody looked at his actions on the display. Soon, her picture and additional info appeared on screen.

“That’s Julia,” Bucky mumbled softly as he stared at her photo. He did his best to swallow the lump in his throat.

Tony’s eyes grew wide when he recognized her. He looked away, pinched the bridge of his nose again, and closed his eyes.

“I met her a few months ago in Belgium,” Tony suddenly said, before he let go of his nose. Everybody looked at him. “She’s HYDRA. Her stepfather is HYDRA. They had Terrigen Crystals in their villa.”

“So, that’s how she got her powers,” Wanda remarked.

Tony looked at her, confused.

“Powers?”

“She could drain the life out of you when she touched you skin to skin,” Sam explained. “And believe me, it’s not a nice experience.”

“How did you meet her, Tony?” Steve asked.

“Agent Coulson and I had the assignment, given by SHIELD, to take the Terrigen Crystals away from HYDRA. We went to Belgium for Julien Beckers, who was the minister of Foreign Affairs at that time. He is dead now,” he explained. “The kid knew the girl as well. He and his friend were guest students at her university.”

“You mean Spiderman? Peter Parker?” Steve questioned.

Tony nodded.

“So what about those crystals?” Sam asked.

Tony stood up and went to the screen. Bucky stepped aside. First he deleted every internet history and cookie of the past hour. Then he searched up a video of a metamorphosis from the crystals.

In this video was a ginger haired women. She held a blue crystal which she dropped. Out of the crystal came a mist. Soon her body was slowly covered by stone. The Avengers looked at the video in suspense. Wanda had to look away.

“Oh my God,” Sam whispered as he saw the stone covering the woman’s body.

Bucky walked backwards with anxiety on his face, and fell into the couch next to Steve. They were both staring at the video in fear. A moment later the stone crumbled from her body. The woman had now dark purple hair, dark purple lips, and her skin was white.

“Holy shit,” said Clint and Scott in sync, as they witnessed the video with amazed eyes.

She looked into the camera with violet eyes and a smile on her lips. She held up her hand, snapped her fingers and disappeared into a dissolving black cloud.

“That, and many, many other kinds of mutations, caused by the crystals. Visible on the outside like in this example, but it’s also possible to have internal powers while looking human.”

He pointed at Wanda.

“Just like this lady here.”

It brought Wanda back to attention, and she paid attention to his lecture again.

“As far as I know HYDRA still has enough crystals in their possession for a brand new army,” Tony said. “We could destroy the crystals we had found in Belgium, but there are thousands around the world.”

He pointed at the screen.

“And this Julia was an ally of HYDRA.”

“No, she’s not! Julia escaped HYDRA!” Bucky hissed frustrated. “Whatever she did, it wasn’t her fault!”

Tony looked at him, anger on his face.

“Oh really? How can you be so sure?” he snapped.

“Because it wasn’t her choice!” Bucky snapped back.

“Wasn’t it her choice to join HYDRA then?”

“Enough!” Steve demanded with his Captain America kind of voice, as he got up from the couch.

Bucky hid his face in his hands out of shame and misery, while Tony crossed his arms over his chest, looking annoyed at the Captain.

“The important thing is now that she’s gone. We have to find her before she falls into HYDRA’s hands again.”

“If she has been taken by HYDRA again, she could be anywhere in the world,” Bucky said, as he released his face and looked at Steve. “It will be like searching for a needle in a haystack.”

“You know, Bucket, this time you are right. It will be like searching for a damned needle in a huge haystack,” Tony remarked.

“We will find her,” Steve said confidently. “It will take time but we will find her.”

“How much time, Captain Big Guy? A week? Two months? A whole century?”

“And how many deaths must happen?” Clint suddenly asked.

Tony looked at him and quietly applauded him for his remark. Steve sighed, not knowing what more to say. Bucky looked at the screen.

“Give me a laptop,” he said suddenly. Everybody looked at him. “For your safety I will leave this place. I will live in an apartment somewhere else in New York and keep hacking HYDRA until I have more information about her.”

“You sure about that?” Steve asked.

Bucky nodded and looked at Sam.

“Therapy can wait. This is more important now.” He looked at his teammates. “It’s for the best.” He swallowed. “Believe me.”

“We do believe you,” Steve reassured him, as he laid a hand on Bucky’s shoulder and held him firmly.

Bucky looked at him with a smile, knowing his friend was right.

Half an hour later, Bucky was in his room packing some of his belongings into a duffle bag. He heard a knock on his door and looked up. Natasha stood in the doorway.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked.

While he looked at her, he closed the bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“Yes, I am,” he answered softly.

Natasha went closer to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then she left his room. He sighed and looked around. He noticed the Winnie the Pooh bear on his desk, which he had taken from the grave. He picked it up and hugged it.

He walked through the hallway of the facility. He entered the garage, walked to his motorcycle, and secured the bag on the back seat. He hardly noticed when Sam, Steve and Wanda entered the garage.

“Bucky,” Steve called out.

He looked up at the trio. They walked up to him. Steve sighed.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I know,” Bucky muttered. He tied his bag tighter on the bike. “Promise me nobody takes my room.”

“I promise,” Steve said.

“And if you find…” He released a sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. “If you find her before I do,” he said with a tremble in his voice. He opened his eyes but didn’t look at anybody. “She can have my room until I’m back.”

“We will take care of it,” Wanda reassured him.

A smile appeared and disappeared from Bucky’s lips. He hugged all three of his friends goodbye.

“We will keep an eye on you,” Sam said in his ear as they hugged each other.

“You don’t have to. I’ll be good,” Bucky reassured as he released him.

He took his seat on the motorcycle, started the engine and drove off. The three of them watched him until he went out of sight.

* * *

A group of scientists was standing around a large metal table. Some were taking notes on tablets and others were talking to one another. Whitehall and Madam HYDRA entered the laboratories. The scientists looked up. They made room to show them the body. Whitehall looked at the female body with wide eyes as he came closer.

“Remarkable,” he whispered, amazed. He looked at one of the scientists. “Status?”

“No vital activities at this moment,” a scientist reported, in a Russian accent. “We will wake her up with the GH.325 drug. After that we can proceed to create the perfect soldier in accordance with your wishes.”

“Make her as powerful as possible, Rudolf. I want her to be immortal.”

“We can give her an Adamantium skeleton and the Super Soldier serum,” Rudolf suggested.

Whitehall smiled.

“That would be perfect.” He looked back at her body. “This will be the Destroyer of Lives, my gentlemen.”

“HAIL HYDRA,” everybody cheered with a salute.

Whitehall and Madam HYDRA left the area when the scientists started the procedure. The two of them walked through the hallways. Whitehall stopped walking.

“Ophelia, my dear.”

Madam HYDRA stopped in front of him. Whitehall went a bit closer to her.

“If this succeed, I want you to be her handler. Teach her everything you have learned at the Red Room.”

The madam came closer to him and laid her hands on his chest.

“With pleasure, my love.”

Then they shared a kiss.

In the lab a scientist placed a breathing tube into her trachea and turned on the breathing machine. He placed sticky sensors on her chest, connected to a heart monitor. It showed a flat line but the sound was off. The same scientist who gave the IV took a hypodermic syringe and filled it with the GH.325 drug. He injected it straight into a vein in her arm. They waited for a moment. After a minute or two, the scientist who installed the heart monitor took an automatic external defibrillator and placed it on her chest. A high tone appeared.

“Clear!”

The scientists took a step backwards before he fired a shock. Ten seconds later he fired another shock. He looked at the display monitor and saw a rate of 20bpm. He decided to give her another shock. After the shock her heart rate went to 35bpm. He looked at his colleague who signed him to wait. He looked back at the monitor, 60bpm. He placed the shock pads back underneath the monitor. Her breathing started slowly but she was still unconscious.

“Gentlemen,” Rudolf called. “The subject is alive. We will proceed with the serum and the Adamantium.”

They drove the table to another area. There was another team of scientists working around a pod in the middle of the room. A few men looked up as the other team drove in Julia’s body. They stopped next to the pod and carried her inside of it. They secured her arms and legs with metal handcuffs. Rudolf looked up and saw Whitehall standing behind a large window, watching the scene. He nodded. Rudolf scientist nodded back and lowered a leaver. The pod moved upright and enclosed her inside. Inside the pod, metal arms with injectors covered Julia’s arms, legs, forehead and ribs. A blue substance, the serum and Adamantium combined, got slowly injected into her body.

“Twenty percent,” he informed. “Forty percent.”

“Heartbeat is 120bpm. Blood pressure 110 over 60,” another scientist reported.

“Sixty percent.”

“Heartbeat 170bpm. Blood pressure 150 over 95.”

The heart and blood pressure monitors alarmed.

Inside the pot, Julia eyes snapped open. She had the feeling that her skin was on fire. She clenched her fists and tried to pull herself out of the handcuffs. She bit on the breathing tube while she clenched her jaw. Her body was in immense pain.

“Eighty percent. Heartbeat 250bpm. Blood pressure 175 over 110.”

Blood dripped from her nose, caused by the extreme high blood pressure. The pain in her body became unbearable as she screamed out her pain. Whitehall and the team of scientists watched the scene completely calm.

“One hundred percent!”

After a minute, the reactor closed itself down. Her screaming faded away and her heart and blood pressure slowly went down to a normal level. In the meantime, Whitehall entered the room and stood in front of the pod. The pod opened automatically and an exhausted Julia, taller and slightly fitter, appeared. She seemed unconscious while she was breathing heavy. A scientist removed the breathing tube, which made her gurgle and had a fit of coughing. Whitehall reached out a hand to another scientist, who gave him a set of gloves. With a smile on his face, he put them on. He cupped her chin and moved her face sideward to make eye contact. Slowly she opened her eyes, which had a glazed look in them.

“Sir, this part of the project has been successful,” Rudolf reported.

“Excellent, Rudolf.” Whitehall looked at the scientist. “Well done. Now remove her memories and prepare her words.”

He looked back at her while his other hand went into the pocket of his jacket and took out a tissue. He wiped off the blood from her nose. She let out a slight groan, being weak and tired. She blinked slowly to sharpen her blurry view.

“You will be HYDRA’s hero, my love. Soon the world will be ours,” he told her with a gentle voice, as he stroked her cheek with the gloved hand. “You are now the Destroyer of Lives.”

* * *

The Iron Man flew through the dark sky. He arrived at Stark Tower and was in the process of taking off his suit through a hi-tech gauntlet of gadgets. He released a sigh as he entered the penthouse. 

“I can’t believe it! They’ve buried the girl in the compound woods!” he complained out loud.

“Who did they bury?” he heard Pepper asking from the living room.

“The HYDRA girl from Belgium,” Tony answered as he entered the room.

Suddenly he stood still, slightly in shock. Pepper sat on the sofa with a glass of champagne in her hand. Next to the sofa was an armchair with Peter Parker in it. Slowly he stood up with shock on his face.

“Mr. Stark?”

Tony released another sigh.

“Hey kid.”

Peter walked over to him.

“Please, tell me….”

“No,” Tony cut him off.

But Peter didn’t listen to him.

“Did you mean…Julia?” he asked, his voice trembling.

“Sit down,” Tony demanded and moved him back to his seat.

Peter sat back into the armchair, hands were clearly shaking. Tony walked first to his bar to pour a whiskey for himself. Then he took a seat next to Pepper. He took a large gulp of his drink while he searched for his words. Peter looked at him in suspense. The adult man looked at his prodigy.

“While we were in Europe for those Terrigen Crystals, Cap and his team met her,” he explained. “They said she escaped HYDRA and she had magical powers.”

“Oh my God!” Peter gasped and laid his face in his face.

“What I didn’t know until today, she got killed and they buried her close to the compound. And now her body is gone so we can expect a real life episode of The Walking Dead very soon.”

“Oh my, that’s awful!” Pepper said shocked.

Suddenly Peter stood up and paced through the living room.

“Oh my God. This is not true. This not true!!”

Pepper could only watch the whole scene in silence. Tony sighed.

“Sorry kid. But it is.”

The boy stood still and they looked at each other.

“Prepare yourself for the worst,” Tony warned him.

Later that evening, Tony was working on his suit. While he worked he had a video call with Nick Fury and Agent Coulson.

“So let me get this straight. She has been killed by HYDRA and got buried close by the compound? And now she’s gone?” Fury summed up.

“Yup,” Tony answered as he screw his gauntlet.

“I knew that girl couldn’t be trusted.”

“Cap and his team did trust her and they all said it wasn’t her fault.”

“Have they found any new crystals?” Coulson asked.

“Guess not. They didn’t know about it until I’ve shown them a video of a metamorphosis.”

“What’s next?” Fury asked.

Tony placed down his gauntlet and looked at the holographic men.

“Prepare yourself for a zombie apocalypse.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have fun reading! Don't forget to leave a comment!

She threw a double right jab. Blocked. A low kick with her left leg. Blocked. Julia growled angrily as her male opponent, Lex, blocked her hits. 

Suddenly Lex grabbed her shoulders, bent her over and pounded her hard in the gut with his knee. She fell to her knees, arms around her stomach. A gloved hand around the back of her neck. It grasped her firmly but she didn’t flinch. She looked up at Lex as she clenched her fists. 

Julia stood up. He tried to keep her down, but she was stronger than him and she stood, glaring angrily at him. She couldn’t see his eyes because of his dark glasses, but she can tell he was amazed by her strength. She grabbed his wrist from her neck and gripped it so strongly she could feel his bones cracking. He let out a scream of pain. Before he knew it, Lex was flying over Julia’s shoulder. His glasses fell off and he hit the ground. With his X-ray vision he could see her Adamantium bones.

“What the hell?” Lex whispered, amazed.

Without an emotionless face, Julia stepped on the glasses and broke them. She came closer to Lex, while he stayed on the floor. She placed her foot on his chest and put her weight onto it. 

Suddenly he grabbed her ankle, pulled her leg, and kicked her other leg underneath her. She fell to the floor, and Lex was on top of her in an instant. He grabbed her throat with his gloved hands and began to strangle her. She drew up her legs and kicked him away. He flew through the air, bounced off the wall and smacked into the ground.

“Enough!” they heard Madam HYDRA.

Julia got up as she was taking her breath.

“This fight was sloppy!”

Madam HYDRA stood in front of her.

She slapped Julia’s face with the back of her hand.

“You disappoint me. You could do better!”

Julia bowed her head.

“My apologies, madam,” she mumbled, regret on her face.

Madam looked at Lex and sent him away. She took a small blue notebook, with a white hexagon on the cover, out of the pocket of her pants. She opened it, flipped two pages and started to read out loud.

“Zhelaniye.” (Desire.)

Julia looked confusedly at her handler.

“Chetvertyy.” (Fourth.)

The blond teenager closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Bol” (Pain)

“No,” the teenager moaned as she moved her hands to her head. A sharp pain arose in her skull.

“Otorvannost. Doma.” (Isolation. Home.)

She grasped her hair and fell to her knees, as the pain got worse.

“Please don’t,” she begged.

Madam HYDRA smiled at her.

“Vozrodivshiysya!” (Reborn)

The teenager screamed out her pain. In the meantime a new opponent entered the training room. A tall, heavy, muscular man.

“Nikto. Mechtatel (Nobody. Dreamer),” Madam HYDRA continued.

She curled herself into a little ball as she screamed the lungs out of her body.

“Potrogat.” (Touch)

Madam HYDRA closed the notebook.

“Estiminets.” (Destroyer)

Julia stopped screaming. Slowly she stood up, while she recovered her breath. Her green-grey eyes burns with anger.

“Soldat?” Madam HYDRA called her as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Gotov soblyudat,” (Ready to comply) Julia mumbled without emotion.

“Fight him and win,” her mistress demanded. Madam went to the side of the training area. 

Julia could see her opponent cracking his knuckles. She charged at him and tackled him down to the floor. 

The man was amazed by her swift action. He took a number of blows in his face. He then grabbed Julia by the wrist and shoulder and threw her meters away. Julia smacked against the wall before she landed on the floor. 

While she struggled up, he wrapped his arm around her neck and he had her in a chokehold. She took off a glove out of his sight. With her bare hand Julia grabbed him in the face. She felt his energy flowing into her body. He screamed out his pain and let her go. 

Suddenly Julia’s body stiffened in a cramp, and she was gasping for air as she released her opponent. After a moment her body relaxed and she fell limp into the floor. Madam HYDRA walked up to her with the one-button-remote control in her hand.

“Enough with your powers! Get up and fight with your fists!” Madam HYDRA screamed at her.

With panting breaths Julia stood up and looked at him, while the opponent recovered from his dizzy spell. Julia was in pain but she had learned to ignore it. Julia put on her glove and raised her fists, ready for another fight. 

This time the man charged her with uplifted fists. He wanted to punch her but Julia could block it, and his other fist. He tried to push Julia off balance, but she pushed back. His strength moved her a few inches. Julia looked up in his eyes and gritted her teeth. Julia took a step forward, but her foot slipped, causing her to fall on her knees. Quickly he grabbed her torso, lifted her up and banged her down into the floor. Then he grabbed her legs and threw her a few feet away. Julia landed on the floor and rolled another few feet. She lay still, unconscious. Madam HYDRA looked over her motionless body.

“Is this the Destroyer of Lives? Even with your words you are pathetic!” she hissed.

* * *

Lex walked back into his cell after his match with Julia. Out of a drawer he took a new pair of sunglasses and put them on.

“Did you win?”

He looked up at his friend, Dave, as he shook his head in disbelief.

“She has an Adamantium skeleton!”

“What?” Dave reacted shocked. “Did HYDRA gave her that or…?”

“I don’t know man, but I could beat her,” Lex interrupted. “Her fighting really sucks.”

Dave huffed.

“What a shame. Being here for a month and she still doesn’t know how to fight.”

“Yeah. I really wonder why they keep her here. Other people like her would be executed.” Lex shook his head. “I really don’t understand what’s so special about her.”

* * *

Bucky and Steve were having a coffee at a local Starbucks close by the Brooklyn Bridge.

“How are you doing, Bucky?”

Bucky looked a little confused.

“Like I said, I’m doing fine.”

Steve shook his head.

“Buck, we’ve known each other since we are ten years old and I know that look in your eyes. You are worried.”

His friend sighed.

“Her profile haven’t been updated. Still MIA. I’m still hoping for a sign,” Bucky admitted.

Steve took a sip of his cappuccino, searching for words. Bucky just stared at his cardboard cup, while Steve looked outside the window. Across the Starbucks was a Sony Centre with flat screen TVs in their shop window. One of them showed a news broadcast. Steve stood up and went to the shop, leaving Bucky wondering why he left. The Captain viewed the news item. It showed a team of Swiss social workers and search dogs. Underneath the screen rolled a text;

_The lifeless body that was previously found in the Swiss Alps belongs to Alexander Pierce._

Bucky arrived next to him.

“They have found Pierce,” Steve informed him.

The brown haired man watched how social workers loaded a covered body into a hearse. He closed his eyes and mumbled a curse. He took a deep breath, and suddenly he threw his coffee on the floor. Steve looked at him in shock. Bucky walked around, with his hands gripping his hair, trying to remain calm in public. He growled in anger instead of screaming it out.

* * *

Sam, Scott and Wanda sat in the lounge area of the Avengers compound and watched the news.

“The body found in the Swiss Alps earlier this year, is that of Alexander Pierce,” a female broadcaster announced. “His identity has been confirmed by the Federal government of the United States.”

With a sigh, Sam turned off the TV. The room was silent. Wanda stared into her cup of tea and Sam, tired, rubbed his face. Scott watched them.

“Can somebody explain to me who he was?” Scott carefully asked.

“Secretary Alexander Pierce was one of HYDRA's leaders, and its top undercover operative inside the United States Government, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the World Security Council,” they heard Natasha explain, as she walked into the area. “Regarding his relationship with Bucky and Julia, Pierce was shown to be abusive and manipulative towards them. Furthermore, it is implied that he lied to them on numerous occasions, such as when Bucky inquired about Steve, and Julia about her family.”

“Abusive?”

“By placing them in a machine that erased their memory and electroshocked them, as a punishment. Also Julia got stabbed and shot to death.”

Scott was in shock.

“Does her family know she died?”

“She doesn’t have a family,” Wanda mumbled sad, still staring in her tea.

“How old was she?” Scott continued asking.

“Around seventeen,” Sam answered after he shrugged his shoulders, not knowing her exact age.

Scott shook his head in sorrow.

“Sounds awful.”

“It was. It was very traumatic, especially for Bucky. We’ve tried to save her.”

“But she was done with her life,” Wanda added. “HYDRA damaged her too much to function.”

She closed her eyes and a tear fell into her warm drink. Natasha sat next to Wanda and stroked her back to comfort her. Sam stood up to walk to the big window. He gazed over the river, as he remembered his conversation with Julia at the same waterway. Also he remembered her struggle after being stabbed and shot.

Then Clint and Tony entered the room and saw the devastated faces.

“Jesus, did somebody die?” Tony remarked.

“Hey, show some respect, here!” Scott snapped.

Both men held up their hands defensively.

“Okay, he didn’t mean to piss you off,” Clint offered.

“Have you seen the news?” Natasha asked.

“What news?”

“It was Pierce’s body, who had been found earlier in Switzerland,” Sam answered as he walked back to his seat.

Tony raised his eyebrows.

“Ah okay. So why the sadness?” A silence. “Oh wait. Is it about the HYDRA girl?”

“Could you please stop calling her that?” Sam asked, annoyed after a sigh.

Then Wanda stood up and walked away. Tony and Clint looked at her as she passed by.

“I’ll talk to her,” Sam said as he followed her.

Then they looked at Scott. He folded his arms over his chest and looked at the men.

“Like it or not, I’m staying.”

“You’re a funny guy,” Clint chuckled.

“Yeah. I’ve heard that multiple times. Anyways, what you just did wasn’t nice!”

“Mind your own business, Shrinks. As long as this compound carries my name, you’re going to behave,” Tony warned.

Then Scott started to look around. He grabbed the cushions from the couch and dug among them.

“What is he doing?” Clint wondered.

Natasha looked slightly worriedly at him while he kept on searching.

“Is it the ghost again, Scott?”

“Nah, I’m looking for his name on his stuff, but I can’t find it,” he said, while he looked behind the couch.

The men face palmed as Natasha hung her head in shame.

* * *

In the meantime, Sam arrived at Wanda’s bedroom. He stopped in the doorway and saw her sitting cross-legged on her bed with her back to the door. She was playing her guitar. He lifted up his fist, ready to knock on the door.

“You can come in,” Wanda invited before he even touched the doorframe.

Sam walked into her bedroom with a confused look as she stopped playing.

“I saw you in the reflection of my TV.”

“Oh really?” Sam remarked with a smirk on his lips. “I thought I was on your mind.”

A small smile came to her lips as she put her guitar away.

“You know, I’m not a telepath but I know you are thinking about her,” Sam suddenly said.

“True.” She leaned her head on her hand and looked at him. “They don’t want to know her just because of HYDRA.”

Sam sighed and sat next to her.

“I know. But Tony has always been stubborn like that and Clint goes with his flow. I wish I could see Julia proving them wrong.” He sighed. “But that’s impossible. Or a miracle has to happen.”

They sat together in silence.

* * *

Whitehall sat in his office and watched the news about Alexander Pierce. He released a sigh as he walked to his mini bar. He took out a bottle of whiskey and filled a glass. With the glass in his hand he walked back to the television.

“Alexander. My close friend. I promise you I will take great care of her,” he mourned. He raised his glass. “Hail HYDRA.”

Her eyes fluttered open. It was dark, musty and cold. Her hair was greasy and hung down her face. She looked at the ceiling and saw she was shackled on a braid of chains. She was even hanging a few feet from the ground. Dressed in nothing but black sports shorts and a cropped tank top. Behind her she heard high heeled footsteps. Suddenly Julia felt a whip lash against her bare back and screamed out her pain.

“Don't show pain!” she heard madam HYDRA demanding.

Another strike against her body. Julia clenched her jaw to restrain herself from screaming. Her eyes focused on the ground as she breathed heavily through her nose. She heard the high heels again. Madam HYDRA now stood in front of her. She grabbed Julia’s jaw and wrenched her head up to make eye contact.

“From now on, you will be punished when your fighting is sloppy. Understood?”

“Yes, madam,” Julia said in a submissive tone.

The Madam smiled.

“Good.”

With a rough gesture she released Julia’s face and walked away, leaving Julia hanging.

While she was alone, Julia had flashes of images inside her head of an unknown man whipping her with a belt. She closed her eyes tight and wished those images would vanish. But they stayed in her mind, causing her to panic. Frantically she looked around for help, but nobody was nearby. Tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to fight them, but without success. She wept in silence.

After a few hours, Julia heard footsteps again. She looked up, although her view was blurry from the tears. After blinking her eyes a few times, her view sharpened and saw Whitehall in front of her. With a gloved hand Whitehall wiped away a tear from her cheek.

“Don’t cry, my love.” He looked at two HYDRA soldiers behind him. “Release her and bring her to her cell.”

The soldiers unlocked the handcuffs and Julia fell into their arms. She felt too weak to stand, so the soldiers dragged her out of the area.

Once they arrived at her cell, they dropped her on the floor. Whitehall entered with a bowl in his hand. Julia sat up as he gave her the bowl, with a smile on his face. She took it in her hands and saw it was warm chicken broth. She was unsure if it was okay to drink and looked at the man. Whitehall nodded at her. Julia took a sip. She kept the broth in her mouth for a little while before she swallowed it. It tasted good, and Julia kept on drinking. She glanced a few times between the man and the bowl and wondered if this was okay. He just smiled at her while she was drinking.

Whitehall started to speak. “You know, you look a lot like your mother,” 

He moved a string of hair that was hanging in front of her eye, behind her ear with a gloved hand. Julia ignored him while drinking the broth, as she was hungry.

“I have met her seventeen years ago. She was the sweetest woman I have ever known and you are just like her. We had a little affair. Shortly, she found out she was pregnant and left me for somebody else.” He shook his head as he looked away from Julia. “I’ll never forgive her.”

Julia hardly listened, and gave the bowl back to Whitehall when it was empty. Then Whitehall turned around and left her cell, followed by the soldiers. The door got locked again.

Julia slowly stood up and walked, unsteady on her legs, to her bed. She laid down and fell asleep quickly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter! Enjoy reading and please leave a comment/review!

Two months later

Peter Parker walked through the hallways of Midtown School of Science and Technology. He went to his locker to take out the books for his next lesson. His mind was blank.

“Hey man! Look what I’ve got!”

But Peter didn’t respond to his friend. Ned sighed and placed his new Star Wars comic back into his backpack. He had seen his friend like this since they got out of Belgium, and when Peter shared him new information about their former classmate. He patted his shoulder and Peter looked at him.

“Want to eat ice cream outside and have a talk?” Ned suggested.

A moment later, they sat on a bench of the University’s schoolyard. Ned was enjoying a small tub of Ben & Jerry's, while Peter was eating a strawberry popsicle.

“You know, I still think about Julia. That image of her covered with rocks stays in my mind,” Peter rambled. “And then that story of Mr. Stark’s.” He shivered. “I just can’t believe it.”

“I know.”

Peter sighed. Then MJ showed up and took a seat next to Peter.

“Hey Main Man,” MJ greeted Peter, after a kiss on his cheek. She looked at Ned. “Hey dude.”

“What’s up?” Ned asked her, after a last bite of his ice cream.

“The usual,” MJ said with a shrug. “What about you?”

“Well…” Ned hesitated while looking at Peter.

Peter bowed his head and MJ saw his mourning face.

“Is it about your friend from Belgium?” she asked.

Peter nodded. Suddenly his Spider-sense went off. They heard people screaming inside the building. The three ran inside the university. Students were running around in panic. At the end of the hallway they saw a mysterious figure, dressed in black with goggles and a mask, and a weapon in its hand.

“Okay. Ned, MJ. Lead the people to a safe place outside. I’m going to put my suit on and end this.”

His friend and girlfriend nodded at him and went into the crowd to organise an evacuation. Peter ran to the closest toilet. In a stall he took off his sneakers, jeans and shirt. Out of his backpack he took his Spiderman suit. He heard the bathroom’s door open.

The figure entered the bathroom and looked around. It kicked a stall open. Nobody inside. Another door was kicked. Again, nobody. It skipped a stall and kicked open the fourth in the row. 

Suddenly a smudge of spider webs covered the mask. Then a smudge of webs on the weapon and it got pulled out of her hands. Spiderman grabbed the door frame and swung himself towards his enemy. His feet stomped into his opponent’s chest. The figure was thrown back against the washing stands and the mirrors. Quickly he sprayed webs over the enemy’s ankles and wrists to prevent escape.

“That will hold you down. Now let’s see who you are.”

He reached out to take off the goggles and mask. Suddenly the enemy broke free from the webs, grabbed his hand and twisted it. He felt bones cracking and a shot of pain went through his arm.

“Aah! What the…?” he cried out in pain.

Then he got kicked back into the stall. The enemy jumped to the weapon and got it back. The villain aimed the small bazooka at the ceiling and blasted a few shots. Half of the ceiling fell down, along with a chair and desk from a classroom above the bathroom. It all fell onto the Spiderman, while he screamed out.

The attacker looked at the rubbish heap for a little while. A foot and a hand stuck out of the mess. It waited to see if Spiderman moved. After a minute nothing had happened, and the figure disappeared through a small window.

A moment later, MJ and Ned busted into the bathroom. MJ ran to the stall with the broken ceiling and looked in it. She saw Spiderman’s foot and hand poking out of the rubbish.

“Help me, Ned!”

Together they lift up the desk and carried it away. Then they removed the pieces of ceiling until they reached their friend.

“Close the bathroom door!” MJ demanded Ned.

He nodded and got up to close the door. MJ took the mask off. He was unconscious and bloody with minor wounds.

“Peter? Peter, wake up!” she pleaded as she tapped his cheek.

His eyelids started to move and he opened his eyes.

“Oh my head,” Peter grunted.

“Hey dude, are you okay?” Ned asked worried.

“I guess. I think I broke my wrist.”

“Who was this kind of person?” MJ asked curious.

“I don’t know,” Peter answered as he sat up. “But he was very strong.” 

* * *

He was leaning against his Ford Explorer SUV, waiting for his date to arrive. While he was scrolling through his phone he heard the main entrance door of the compound. He looked up, and was amazed at how stunning his date was. Her red hair in a high ponytail, blood red lipstick and dressed in an outfit of simple blue jeans, a black shirt with kimono, sleeves and black high heels.

“You’re almost drooling, Clint,” she remarked with a smile. She walked up closer, and kissed his cheek.

“You look stunning.”

Natasha chuckled shyly. They got into the car.

“So, Where are we going?” she asked curiously as she fastened her seatbelt.

“McDonalds.”

She looked up, a little bit shocked.

“Nah, just kidding! We are going to ‘Aromas’, an Indian restaurant. Recommended by Tony.”

Soon they were in the restaurant, receiving their order. Natasha took her glass of red wine, and Clint his beer, and they toasted each other. After a sip, she took a bite of her chicken korma.

“Oh wow! This tastes good!”

He smiled at her, feeling happy about his choice.

“Glad you like it,” he said, before having a bite of his lamb chops.

“So why are you taking me out to dinner?” Natasha asked curiously, after she swallowed her second bite.

“Why not? Some quality time can do no harm?” he answered, and winked while he drank his beer.

She smiled.

“You sure it’s just quality time?” she teased.

He leaned forward.

“Is this a flirt?” he whispered.

Natasha also leaned forward.

“Well, you started with that wink.”

A quick kiss on the lips followed.

After an hour, the couple walked out of the restaurant to the car. They climbed in, shared another kiss, and drove off. It was quiet on the road as twilight fell.

“Dinner was very nice,” Natasha complimented him.

“You’re welcome.”

A moment of silence.

“Listen,” Clint continued, “I want to talk about that HYDRA girl,” 

Natasha glanced at him, beginning to answer, but a bang from the back of the car interrupted them. Clint nearly lost control over his car as it slipped. He was able to make a safe stop.

“What was that?” Clint wondered as he got out.

He walked to the back of his car and saw a flat tire. He crouched next to it as Natasha joined him. He took a closer look and saw the tire had a huge hole. He looked at Natasha, who was also confused. She looked around. In a distance she saw a silhouette. It moved a small grenade launcher in front of its body and cleared a shot.

“Clint, look out!” Natasha shouted as she dragged him away from his car while she ran away.

Suddenly the SUV exploded. The power of the explosion blew them away. They tried to get up after being smacked against the asphalt.

“Great. That was my rental,” Clint mumbled.

Natasha looked at the spot where she had seen the silhouette. It was gone now. But that didn’t satisfy her and she kept looking around. 

Out of nowhere, a black helicopter appeared. HYDRA agents in the aircraft shot at them with machine guns, and Clint and Natasha ran for their lives. They jumped over the guardrail and ran into the woods, in the hope they could get rid of the chopper by using the bushy trees as a shield. The aircraft flew away. They hid under the canopy while they were catching their breath.

“Nice quality time,” Natasha remarked sarcastically.

“Well, it’s something different than watching a movie or going bowling,” Clint said, shrugging. 

A smoke bomb appeared from nowhere, and exploded. A figure came down out of the cloud of smoke and landed on Clint’s shoulders. He collapsed, and the figure kicked Natasha away. Natasha fell into the grass, rolled onto her knees and looked at the invader. It was a Winter Soldier, but slightly different, slimmer than the version she knew.

Clint grabbed the warrior’s ankles and pulled the soldier off him. The trooper kicked him in the face and made a high jump into the tree. It fired a rope at Clint and jumped back down.

“Hey!” he screamed as he was pulled up by the rope.

Natasha leapt onto the soldier, wrapping her legs around his neck. The warrior flipped Natasha head over heels, and she landed in the dirt. The hoodie of the soldier’s suit fell off from the movement, and a thin blonde braid was revealed. The former spy quickly recovered and jumped back on her feet. Natasha assumed from the aircut it was a woman. 

Suddenly the sound of a gun filled the woods. The soldier screamed out, fell to her knees and grabbed her arm. By the sound of the scream Natasha knew for sure -- this Winter Soldier was a young woman. The soldier looked at her arm and saw she had been grazed. She glanced up and saw Clint still hanging upside down. He had a smoking gun in his hands.

“Surrender or I’ll shoot again,” he ordered.

Slowly she walked towards him. Once again, Natasha jumped on her neck. She took out a rope and wrapped it around the soldier’s throat. The warrior threw her off her shoulders and Natasha landed on the ground. The soldier ran towards her as Natasha jumped at her feet. The women were having a fistfight.

In the meantime, Clint tried to break free from the rope by cutting it with a pocket knife.

In the blink of an eye the soldier took off a glove and grabbed Natasha’s throat with a bare hand. She gasped for air as her energy level descended. Slowly the soldier started to wince in pain and tried not to scream. Unknown memories flowed into her mind.

_The redhead woman and a green giant_

_The redhead placing her hands on her limbs_

_The redhead ran away followed by a black man_

Suddenly a blast separated them. Natasha smacked against the tree and landed hard with her head on a rock. Blood dripped from her forehead, and covered the rock. She was unconscious.

“Natasha!” Clint called out as he stopped cutting.

A few feet away, the female Winter Soldier screaming out her pain with her arms around her head. Clint looked at the soldier who was in agony. Suddenly his rope broke and he fell down, screaming. He landed on his back. All of the air in his body left. With closed eyes Clint tried to get up. He heard a helicopter. He opened his eyes and saw the chopper flying away. The soldier was gone. He looked around and saw Natasha lying on the ground, unconscious. He crawled to her.

“Nat? Can you hear me? Say something!” he pleaded as he tapped on her cheek.

* * *

Frantically she paced in her cell. She grabbed her head and knelt as memories of the unknown redhead made her brain hurt. She growled her pain. Behind her, the door of her cell opened. Whitehall and Madam HYDRA entered her space. She released her head, stood up straight and looked at her handlers.

“Mission report,” Whitehall demanded.

Julia took a painful breath.

“Three Avengers disabled.”

“Good,” he remarked with a smile. “You have performed your mission very well, my precious.”

Something snapped inside Madam HYDRA’s chest, but she remained cool as she glanced at Whitehall.

“But it doesn’t feel good.” She shook her head confused. “One of them. It’s like…I knew her.” Julia looked at the floor, avoiding their gaze. “I have memories about her.”

Whitehall and Madam HYDRA looked at each other.

Julia was staring at the floor. As if at a distance she heard high heels, and felt a gloved hand around her jaw. It roughly moved her face so that she looked into the eyes of her female handler.

“She means nothing to you. Your mind is just a program,” Madam HYDRA hissed and pulled Julia closer. “You hear me?”

“But she felt familiar,” Julia mourned softly.

The madam pushed her away, causing Julia to fall. A second later her body was in a cramp. She gasped for air, her nails grasped into the floor, leaving a trail in the cement when she made a fist. Whitehall released the button of the remote control that kept her under control. With a grunt Julia went limp and began to recover her breath.

“Guards!!” The madam yelled.

Two HYDRA soldiers entered quickly into her cell.

“Take her to the memory suppressing machine!”

The soldiers took Julia by the arms and dragged her out of her cell.

“No please,” Julia begged softly and weakly. “I’ll be good! I promise!”

They arrived in another area and placed Julia in the chair. The soldiers secured her with cuffs around her wrists and ankles. She felt too weak from the cramps and shock to resist. Whitehall stood at the control panel, as Madam HYDRA walked up to Julia. Once again, she grabbed the victim’s jaw. She bent over closely; their noses almost touched each other.

“You will kill on HYDRA’s command," the Madam hissed softly and released Julia after she squeezed her jaw tightly.

Out of the pocket of her trousers she took the blue notebook and opened it.

“Zhelaniya.” (Desire)

Whitehall pushed a button and mechanic arms moved over Julia’s head. Panic rose in her body as she felt the cold metal on the sides of her forehead.

“No, don’t,” Julia begged.

“Chetvertyy.” (Fourth)

“Please, don’t do this to me.”

“Bol!” (Pain)

An electronic shock from the machine went through her mind and body. Julia screamed out her pain. The shocks repeated again and again, accompanied by her trigger words, until her mind was empty and brainwashed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to put a little warning here: this chapter is slightly angst and bloody!
> 
> Have fun reading! Don't forget to leave a comment!

Bucky jolted awake screaming, disturbed by another nightmare. Sweat dripped from his forehead into his eyes and stung them. With a blurry view he rushed to his bathroom. Standing in the shower he opened the cold tap and faced the water. He breathed rapidly as he sank to his knees and sat on the tiles of the floor. Slowly he became calm, under the jet of cold water. He heard his cellphone ringing in the bedroom. Completely wet from the shower, he took his phone from the nightstand and saw it was Sam.

“Hey,” he answered the call.

“Hey, Buck. Listen, some things happened yesterday and I want to talk to you.”

“What happened?” Bucky asked confused and still not fully awake.

“Some ambushes happened. Peter and Natasha got hurt.”

A wave of shock went through Bucky’s body. He leaned against a wall.

“Oh my God. Who did it?”

Suddenly a black dressed person busted through the window next to Bucky. Immediately it kicked Bucky’s legs from under him and made Bucky fall to the floor. It wanted to jump on him but Bucky was able to roll away just in time. The figure missed him, and punched a hole in the floor. Bucky kneelt after the roll and watched as the figure slowly stood up, a Winter Soldier.

“What the hell?” he whispered amazed.

He couldn’t see the face behind the mask, but the soldier looked at him.

“Bucky? Are you okay?” they heard Sam from the phone that lay on the floor.

Bucky took a deep breath to yell something, but before he could, the unknown soldier shot the phone to pieces with a gun. Bucky looked at the soldier. He saw it jump at him with a fist up. He blocked the punch with his metal hand.

Before Bucky knew it he got kicked away. He smashed through the bedroom wall. Bucky landed on his back on the coffee table; it shattered into pieces from the impact. Quickly he looked up and saw the nightstand flying towards him. With his metal fist he punched it away and the furniture broke into splinters. The soldier jumped on to him and threw several punches into Bucky’s face. Bucky could feel massive power in the blows. He grabbed its fists and pushed the soldier away from him. It stumbled backwards. Bucky jumped to his feet. For a moment they stared at each other.

“Who are you?” Bucky wondered.

“The Destroyer of Lives,” it answered in a growl.

His eyes grew as he heard the female voice. There was something familiar in it. He shook his head in shock and disbelief.

“No. No. You can’t be her.”

In a quick movement, the soldier fired a bullet at Bucky. The shot hit his thigh bone. He screamed out his pain. She wanted to fire another round but the gun jammed. As she cleared it, there was a moment’s chance. Bucky grabbed away the weapon, swung round Julia and grabbed her around the neck from behind.

“Don’t be her,” he snarled in her ear.

“I’m not her,” she snapped.

With his hand he took her mask. Suddenly she grabbed him by the neck and hurled him around her shoulders. He flew through the air and landed on the carpet. The mask came off. Bucky looked up, and his fear was confirmed.

“Julia?”

She looked at him with anger in her eyes. Bucky noticed the color of her eyes was slightly different.

“It’s me, Bucky! Please…remember me,” he pleaded.

Quickly she lifted up his armchair and held it above her head. His eyes widened at her strength.

“Who the hell is Bucky?” Julia snarled and swung the item towards him.

The furniture hit him hard and knocked him out. For a moment Julia looked at the motionless body of the former Winter Soldier. She went towards the front door and left the apartment. She took the stairs of the porch to reach the roof. Suddenly she felt a cold hand around her ankle. She looked down and saw Bucky again. His blue-green eyes were filled with anger as he walked up the stairs.

“Your name is Julia. Somebody is messing up your mind.”

“NO!” she yelled, and she kicked him in the face. He let her go as he fell down.

She ran up the stairs and almost reached the door to the roof. Bucky ran after her. Before she could reach the entrance, he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up.

“Stop it, Julia! I don’t want to hurt you,” he said in her ear as he dragged her away from the door.

Suddenly his foot slipped off the step. They both fell down the stairs. Together they lay on the platform. Bucky pushed himself up with a moan and looked at Julia, who lay on her back. Eyes closed, blood from a cut above her eyebrow.

“J-James?” she moaned, softly.

With slight relief Bucky crawled to her.

“I’m here,” he reassured her, as he held Julia gently by the shoulder. “You’ll be fine. I’m here with you.”

He saw her lips moving but couldn’t hear what she said. He moved his ear close to her mouth.

“What did you say?”

“Hel…Hel…” Julia moaned softly, but she didn’t finish her word or sentence.

“I’ll help,” Bucky offered as he touched her cheek with his metal hand.

Julia eyes opened her eyes, and Bucky could see the green-grey color of them, not her original green eye-color.

“Hail HYDRA,” she whispered. A gunshot followed. 

His eyes widened; his body was in pain as he looked down. Blood dripped from his abdomen. Bucky looked at Julia. In shock he gasped for air. A mischievous smile played on Julia’s lips as she pulled him closer, staring into his eyes.

“Mission accomplished,” she teased, and fired another bullet into Bucky’s abdomen.

She pushed him away from her and went up the stairs again.

“You…know me,” she heard him gurgle.

With the doorknob in her hand she turned and looked down at him. Bucky laboured up the stairs, hauling himself up by the stair railing.

“You... Have… To… Remember.”

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as he spoke.

“We… Escaped… HYDRA.”

“SHUT UP!” Julia yelled and aimed her weapon at his head.

“Pierce…he’s dead.”

The sound of Pierce’s name triggered something in Julia’s head. Memories flashed through her mind. She closed her eyes and growled in pain.

_Pierce sat in his chair behind his desk_

_“I can see the aggression in your eyes”_

_Pierce aimed his gun and shot her_

Julia snapped back into reality from her flashbacks, dropped her gun and saw Bucky standing very close to her. She could see the pain in his blue-green eyes; sweat dripped from his forehead. He couldn’t stand straight because of the agony.

“Remember…please. You’re Julia….friend of The Avengers,” he said. He swallowed down the blood welling in his mouth, between each word he spoke.

“I’M NOBODY!!” Julia yelled, quickly removing a glove and grabbing him by the throat. She could lift him a few inches off the ground.

Bucky felt his energy draining out of his body. He saw how the cut on Julia’s forehead closed by itself within seconds. Julia gritted her teeth as she felt his energy flowing into her. Bucky looked into her green-grey eyes.

“I… love… you,” he gasped.

His words confused her. Suddenly a blast threw them apart. Julia flew through the door to the roof, while Bucky got smacked into the wall above the stairs platform. Outside on the roof, Julia screamed out her pain as memories of the metal armed man flashed through her mind.

_Bucky looked over his shoulder and gave Julia a smile_

_Bucky holding Julia, telling her everything would be fine and that she was safe._

_Bucky smiled at her. "Bucky. You can call me Bucky."_

_Bucky wiped a tear off her cheek when Julia was wounded_

It took all the strength Bucky still had to crawl up the stairs. He held his flesh hand firmly on one of his wounds to prevent more bleeding. At the opening of the door to the roof, he saw Julia as she screamed out her pain. Bucky’s heart felt for Julia as he saw her suffering. After a few seconds Julia calmed down. Bucky could see by the motions of her body that she was crying. Julia looked up and saw the bloodied man.

“Oh my God,” Julia whispered and got up. “Bucky?” she called out with a sob.

By the tone of her voice, and hearing his name, he could tell it was Julia. Not Julia the Winter Soldier. Bucky smiled, relieved. She took a few steps towards him. Suddenly her body cramped and fell flat on her back, her breath almost choking. In the background Bucky saw three HYDRA soldiers running up to her.

“No,” he growled in pain as he stood wobbling on his legs, leaning on the doorframe. Too weak to take action. Two of the soldiers dragged Julia’s body to their helicopter. The third soldier aimed his shotgun at Bucky.

Suddenly The Falcon flew in, and kicked the HYDRA soldier aside. They began to fight while the other soldiers took Julia into the helicopter and took off. Bucky watched Sam and the left-behind soldier fighting. With a trembling hand he held up Julia’s gun and fired. The bullet hit the soldier’s neck, killing him instantly. Sam looked at Bucky and saw he was severely hurt.

“Oh man,” Sam mumbled softly and ran to Bucky.

Bucky’s legs collapsed under him, and he coughed up more blood. Sam held him in his arms and kept his hands firmly on his wounds. He could see Bucky was getting paler.

“I need medical attention. Fast!” Sam rapped out the ordere into the communication system in his ear. “Who did this, Buck?”

“HYDRA… Julia,” Bucky mumbled weakly.

Sam was shocked.

“She… was not… herself,” Bucky whispered.

He stared at the airborne helicopter in the far distance. Suddenly a powerful white laser beam split the sky and hit the aircraft. It plummeted into the East River. Bucky’s eyes widened.

“No,” Bucky groaned. He tried to crawl out of Sam’s grip.

“Easy Bucky,” Sam calmed him as he kept him held.

The Iron Man landed next to them. His mask lifted up, and a concerned Tony Stark was revealed.

“The chopper is down,” he reported.

Bucky looked angrily at him.

“With… Julia.”

Sam and Tony were confused.

“You mean Julia was in the helicopter?” Sam asked carefully.

Bucky looked at him in pain. Then he passed out. Sam quickly checked his pulse.

“We have to go!”


	7. Chapter 7

Sam and Tony were sitting in the waiting room of the Stark Tower medical floor, while Dr. Bruce Banner proceeded with surgery to save Bucky’s life. Sam looked at his hands. No matter how many times he washed them, the blood didn’t seem to come off completely.

“Mr. Stark, I would like to inform you that Captain America has arrived with Miss Maximoff and Mr. Barton,” FRIDAY, the Tower’s AI, announced.

“Okay, give them access to this floor.”

“Yes, sir. I also want to warn you that Captain America is acting very upset.”

Tony closed his eyes and laid a hand over his forehead.

“Oh shit,” he sighed. “Okay, Birdman. Get yourself ready,” he warned Sam as he stood up.

But Sam didn’t react to him.

Seconds later the medical floor corridor opened and a mad Captain America came through.

“Where is he?” the big man demanded.

Tony stood in front of him.

“Hey, calm down first!” the billionaire said.

Steve grabbed the collar of Tony’s Black Sabbath shirt and pulled him closer. Meanwhile, Wanda went to Sam and comforted him.

“Where is he?” Steve growled.

“Easy, pal!” Clint warned as he pulled the two away from each other. “Sit down and calm down! Then we’re talking.”

“Tell me where he is!” Steve yelled.

“Banner is doing surgery on him and it will take a long while before he’s done,” Tony explained, doing his best to stay calm.

“What happened to him?”

“The HYDRA girl shot him. In the stomach. Twice. And once in his leg.”

With shock and anxiety on his face, Steve backed off.

“No,” he whispered as he shook his head. “No, she didn’t.”

“Bucky said Julia wasn’t herself,” Steve heard Sam saying.

The two men looked at each other. Steve could see the blood on Sam’s hands. With a mumbled curse Steve went to him and embraced him. Tony leaned against the wall as he looked at them.

“Okay I want to get some things straight, right now.” The Avengers looked at Tony. “HYDRA is our enemy, right? Our job is to defeat that organization. This girl, at this moment, is a spy working for HYDRA,” he went on. “She disabled three members of our team and left one of them fighting for his life. And you all accept what she did? I destroyed their helicopter with her in it to save us all!”

Wanda stood up and moved around Tony, eyes fixed on him. Tony watched her from the corner of his eyes. Clint found her movement suspicious and slowly reached for his gun. Quickly she held up her hand and his gun flew out of his hand. It fell on the floor and broke in pieces. Then Wanda used her powers to reveal a few visions in Tony’s mind;

_A gun been fired from a black SUV at Julia_

_Julia being shot by Alexander Pierce_

_Bruce told Bucky Julia died, and Bucky had his mental breakdown_

Tony blinked his eyes when the visions were finished. He looked at Wanda who stood in front of him. She was waiting till he said something. He shook his head and walked away. When he was in the corridor, he turned around.

“What you showed me, does not change my mind,” he said and went away.

Wanda looked at Clint. He glanced at her and followed Tony. Wanda sighed.

“Clint is on his side,” she informed the men. “I’m sorry. I did my best.”

Steve stood up and hugged her.

“I know you did.”

Hours went by while they waited till surgery was over. Wanda fell asleep against Steve’s shoulder, while he stared at the floor. Sam was gazing out of the window. Then Bruce entered the waiting area. Steve stood up. Wanda was woken up by his movement. Sam turned around but stayed where he was.

“How is he doing?” Steve asked worriedly.

“It was a close call. He lost a lot of blood,” Bruce sighed. “A bullet went through his diaphragm. Another bullet in his thigh. The third bullet didn’t cause too much damage in his stomach.”

Steve was shocked.

“What is his chance of survival?” Steve asked worried, after he swallowed away some upcoming bile.

Bruce crossed his arms over his chest.

“With the Super Soldier Serum in his system, he will have a good chance. But he needs time. We are going to finish everything and bring him to the ICU. I will let you know when he’s there.”

“Thank you,” Steve said as he nodded.

Bruce nodded in return and went back where he came from. Steve rubbed his face as he sat down.

“Oh my God,” he mumbled in his hands. 

“He was in bad shape when I got there, but he was fighting,” Sam told them.

Half an hour later, Bruce came back and brought the team to the ICU.

“I do want to warn you that it can be a shock to see him on the machines,” Bruce warned as they walked through the hallways. “But it’s for the best.”

They arrived at a large window. Despite the warning, they were shocked to see Bucky hooked up on several machines. Wanda hid her face in Sam’s chest. Steve leaned against the window to have a better look. He could hardly see his face because of the breathing tube.

“The breathing machine is just for extra support. Also for a better recovery we keep him asleep for a few days,” Bruce explained.

“Can I be by his side?” Steve asked.

“Of course. But only one person can stay. It’s okay for two people but just for a few minutes.”

Steve looked at Sam and Wanda. Sam nodded at him. Bruce quietly opened the door of the room. The beeps of the heart monitor and the noise of the ventilator were the only sounds in the room. Steve stood at the bedside to have a better look at his friend. Bucky’s skin was slightly pale but he was peacefully asleep. Steve took a trembling breath.

“It’s so hard to see him like this.”

“I know,” Bruce agreed, as he stood by the door.

Steve decided to take a seat. At the other side of the bed was a chair. He took his friend’s flesh hand into his own. In the hand was an intravenous line. Steve looked up at the IV-pole and saw a sac of saline and a sac of blood. He sighed while he shook his head.

“So this is how it feels?”

Bruce looked at him, confused, and Steve noticed it.

“Before the serum I had a very weak immune system and was ill every two months,” Steve explained. “When my mom died, Bucky took over the task of caring for me while I was sick. They were at my side, every day and night. Until I was better.” He wiped away some tears. “I would do the same for him.”

“That’s fine. I will leave you alone while I do some errands,” Bruce reassured him.

Quietly he left the room and went back to Sam and Wanda.

“Steve will stay by his side. You may join him but not longer than five minutes.”

“I understand,” Sam said.

“Now if you excuse me?” the doctor apologized and left.

Slowly Sam entered the room. He sighed as he looked at the sad sight. He stood by the bed.

“If you want, you and Wanda may return to the compound. I’ll stay here with Bucky till he’s better,” Steve said.

“I prefer to stay here in case you need something.”

Steve smiled and thanked him.

* * *

Madam HYDRA angrily burst into the office of Daniel Whitehall.

“They lost the subject!” she almost shouted.

Whitehall looked at her in shock as he stood up from the chair behind his desk.

“What! How?”

She looked at the door and a HYDRA soldier entered. A medical collar was around his neck and his arm was in a sling. His facial expression was fearful.

“Sir, I’m sorry. Our helicopter had been shot down by the Iron Man,” he explained with a trembled voice. “When I woke up, she was gone.”

“The mission?”

The soldier swallowed.

“Accomplished as far as I could see. Winter Soldier was suffering badly when we got her into the helicopter.”

Whitehall smiled.

“However another Avenger flew in when we left in the helicopter,” the soldier continued. “And then we got shot down.”

Whitehall’s smile disappeared. He walked to his mini bar and filled two glasses of whiskey. With the glasses in his hands he walked to the soldier and gave one glass to him.

“Well, despite all of these mistakes, I do admire your work.”

Whitehall raised his glass.

“Hail HYDRA.”

A bit unsure, the soldier raised his glass as well.

“Hail HY….”

Suddenly the noise of a gunshot filled the room and the soldier fell to the floor. Blood was coming from the side of his head. Madam HYDRA stepped to Whitehall’s side, with a gun in her hand.

“What a pity. He was such a good pilot,” Whitehall said after a sip of his drink. He looked at her. “Now we have to find her again to keep eliminating The Avengers.”

“I will hack the medical facilities again,” Madam said. “My love,” she whispered in his ear, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and walked away. 

* * *

In his office, Bruce typed out a file about Bucky’s surgery. In the background he heard somebody. He moved around in his desk chair and saw it was Tony.

“I’ll be straight up. I don’t want him to stay in my tower.”

Bruce blinked his eyes confusedly.

“But didn’t you…”

“I know, I brought him here but I have changed my mind,” Tony interrupted. “I have the feeling HYDRA will be here for them. It’s better they move to the compound.”

“For Bucky’s recovery it’s better to keep him here,” Bruce insisted.

Tony shook his head.

“I want him out, now!”

“No, not within 48 hours. He needs to be stable first.”

“Within 24 hours,” Tony shot back.

“We are talking about someone’s life here!”

“What about the life of Pepper? What if HYDRA come searching here for the girl and hurt Pepper instead?” Tony asked frustrated. “24 hours. No longer.”

He turned and left. Bruce sighed and started typing his file again.

* * *

A team of doctors and nurses rushed through the hallways with a young person on a stretcher. Her body was covered in minor cuts and blood. The medical team worked with surgical gloves on.

“Teenage female, no identification papers!” one of them yelled. 

“Unconscious but pupils are reacting!”

“She was found faced down in the water. Unsteady breathing.”

A nurse had placed a respirator mask over her mouth and squeezed a few times in the rubber balloon.

“Low body temperature, probably caused by the cold water. Pulse rate is around 59 bpm.”

“Prepare her for X-rays.”

* * *

The next morning arrived and Steve hadn’t left Bucky’s side. Sam and Wanda came now and then to bring him something to drink or to eat and a little talk. Bruce went in and out every three hours, to check Bucky’s vitals in silence.

Tony came into the room. He leant against the wall next to the door, and looked at Steve and Bucky.

“It will be better for him to be in the compound.”

Steve did not react.

Tony tilted his head.

“Are you listening?”

The billionaire went to Steve’s side.

“Cap!”

Steve looked up at him.

“Did you hear what I said?” Tony asked, a little annoyed.

The captain shook his head.

“No, sorry. I was deep in thought about Bucky and Julia. What did you say?”

“I have changed my mind. I want him, you and your team out of this building and back in the compound,” Tony snapped.

Steve blinked his eyes, not believing his ears.

“Don’t act stupid, you’ve heard me.” snapped Tony.

“When do you want us to leave?” Steve asked, gulping.

“Now.”

On cue, Sam came into the room with a box of Dunkin Donuts. He looked at the two men.

“Something wrong?” he asked worriedly.

Steve had barely opened his mouth when Tony started.

“Yes, I want all of you out of my tower!”

Sam looked at Steve. Steve could only release a sigh.

“On one condition, Tony. We want JARVIS or any other AI as security,” Steve said.

“No. No way!” Tony snapped again. “I’m not doing that since Tiny Dude used FRIDAY as a slave!”

“Hey, calm down. We have a patient here,” Sam said soothingly

“He’s right, this is not the place to argue,” they heard Bruce say. He was standing in the doorway. “Please, will everybody leave this room?”

Sam and Tony made their way to the door but Steve kept seated.

“Including you, Steve.”

Steve pinched Bucky’s hand slightly and whispered a ‘be right back’ as he stood up. The three adult men stood in front of Bruce like they were little misbehaving kids. Bruce sighed.

“Bucky is stable enough to go back to the compound, this afternoon. I will be there for further medical treatment.”

“Good,” Tony said and walked away.

“I’m sorry,” Bruce apologized when Tony had left the area. “He came to me out of the blue and told me he wanted Bucky out of the tower for his safety.”

“Because of HYDRA?” Sam guessed.

Bruce nodded. “I will arrange secure transport to bring him to the compound,” he offered.

* * *

In the compound, Scott and Natasha were having lunch in the lounge area. The TV was on in the background.

“Authorities in New York are seeking the public's help with identifying a female who was found unconscious in the water off East River Esplanade,” a reporter said.

Scott took the remote control to turn up the volume.

“She has been classed a Jane Doe because of her unknown identity.”

A picture of a blonde female teenager, unconscious, with an oxygen tube in her nose, appeared on screen. Scott dropped his taco as he recognized the girl.

“Isn’t that the girl Bucky was talking about?” he asked Natasha.

She glanced at the screen and was thrown into shock.

“Oh my God! Julia!”

“If you have any information about her please contact the Bellevue Hospital Center,” the reporter ended.

“I’m going to inform Steve and call the hospital,” Natasha said and left the room.

She walked at a fast pace along the hallway, and she saw Sam coming up to her.

“Sam!” she called out, and they hugged each other.

“What’s the rush?” Sam asked, curious.

“Julia has been found. We have to get her back here before HYDRA finds out.”

Sam’s eyes widened.

“Found where? Is she okay?”

“She’s in a hospital on the other side of the East River. As far as I know she is unconscious,” Natasha was rambling. Then she realized Sam was in the compound. “Wait, aren’t you…”

Sam sighed.

“Tony changed his mind and now Bucky is staying here in the compound.”

Natasha was sad and confused. She had to fight against her tears.

“Can I see him?”

Once they had settled Bucky in the medical wing of the Avengers compound, Steve took a seat next to his friend again. He took his flesh hand and held it gently.

“Everything will be okay, Buck,” he whispered.

Steve looked up as he heard somebody entering the room. He saw Natasha, looking upset. Tears dripped over her cheeks. Slowly she came closer to the bed. She laid a hand on Bucky’s forehead and stroked it. Steve stood up and hugged his female friend. She burst into tears, and it made Steve teary too.

“He’ll survive,” Steve whispered in her ear. “He’s asleep now so he can get better.”

Natasha could only nod. Then she released Steve and felt light headed. She stood slightly wobbly on her legs, and almost fell against him.

“Hey, are you okay?” Steve asked, worried.

“Yeah. Yeah, just a headache and a dizzy spell from the concussion.”

Steve let her sit on the chair and she thanked him. 

“Uhm, Julia has been found,” she said as she wiped tears out of her eyes.

Steve was amazed.

“That’s great!”

“I will pick her up from the hospital with Sam and bring her here. Before HYDRA finds out.”

“Are you sure about going? You don’t look well,” Steve said, concerned.

“I’ll be fine,” she reassured him after a deep breath, as she looked at Bucky.

* * *

Nick Fury and Phil Coulson were looking at a still from the Jane Doe news report on a large digital screen.

“Get her to The Playground,” Fury ordered.

“Yes Sir,” Coulson answered.

Agent Coulson left the area to form his team. Fury still gazed at the still.

“Don’t be too hard on her,” Fury heard a female voice behind him.

“She is HYDRA.”

“It wasn’t her choice. Please I…”

“I did what you wanted. Now let me deal with her,” Fury snapped as he turned round from the screen.

“But she’s my d…”

“Leave!, And get back to work, agent Elslander!” Fury snapped again.

The woman sighed, nodded and left the control area.


	8. Chapter 8

Once again Madam HYDRA burst into Whitehall’s office when he was doing some paperwork.

“A news channel reported that a Jane Doe has been found. It’s the subject,” she reported.

“Get her before The Avengers can do it,” Whitehall demanded.

“The team is already on their way.”

“Good. Remember, I want the subject alive. She may be pivotal to HYDRA's dominance as we move forward.”

Madam HYDRA turned around and left. On her way out she released a sigh, and felt something breaking inside of her.

* * *

A team of medics pushed a stretcher with a young female into the SHIELD QuinJet. Agent Phil Coulson was talking to a doctor.

“Thank you for taking care so far. We will do the rest with our medical team.”

“You’re welcome. This is a copy of her medical file, and in this bag we have her belongings,” the doctor said, as he handed over the items to the agent. “To be honest, we haven’t seen anything like this before.”

Coulson smiled.

“Well, lately nothing surprises us.”

They shook hands and the doctor went back inside the hospital.

Melinda May took her seat behind the wheel with Coulson next to her. Jemma Simmons took a seat next to Julia’s stretcher. Simmons wanted to touch her forehead with her bare hand, but an electric shock stopped her when she hardly touched her. She reacted with a little shriek.

“Everything okay?” Coulson asked, glancing over his shoulder.

Simmons smiled as she looked back at him.

“Yes, we are. Just a little shock, nothing serious.”

She looked at Julia.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. You’ll be safe,” Simmons said with her sweet caring voice.

“We’re not sure if she’s a sweetheart, Simmons,” May said. “She’s HYDRA after all.”

Simmons opened the medical file and started to read, while May took off from the hospital’s roof. After a few minutes of reading and staring at the X-rays, Simmons looked astonished at Julia.

As they cruised, Coulson noticed a helicopter on a parallel course.

“We have company,” he said.

The side door of the helicopter opened, and a missile launcher fired from it. May pulled at the steering wheel to avoid the hit. Because of the sudden movement, Simmons had to hold on tight on the bed.

“Hey, careful! We have a patient here,” she warned.

May shifted the QuinJet to a higher speed, and went up into the clouds.

The helicopter wasn’t as fast as the jet, but it tried to stay on their track. It also went into the clouds. But once the helicopter left the cloud, the pilot noticed the QuinJet was gone.

* * *

Sam and Natasha entered the hospital and went straight to the reception. A middle-aged woman looked up as they arrived at her desk.

“Hi,” Natasha said in a friendly tone. “I made a call about the Jane Doe, and we are here to identify her.”

The woman looked a little confused.

“Oh. Well…she has already been moved out, half an hour ago.”

Natasha and Sam were shocked.

“By who?” Sam asked.

“I’m sorry. Because of privacy reasons I can’t tell you,” the woman apologized, and shook her head.

“We respect your policy, but we need to know who took her. Her life is at risk,” Natasha demanded.

“No, sorry. I can’t tell you.”

Natasha sighed and a new headache came over her. She turned around and took a seat in the waiting area across the reception.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked, worried, as he sat next to her.

“Yeah. Just a headache,” she mumbled as she massaged her temples.

“Let’s go back to the compound. You need your rest.”

“But…”

He knelt in front of her.

“We will find her again,” he reassured Natasha. “But first you need your rest. Come on, we’re going back to the compound.”

Slowly they stood up and Sam supported her to their car.

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open. Julia saw she was in a bright white unknown area and dressed in a hospital gown. She noticed an oxygen tube in her nose, sticky sensors on her chest and a heart monitor next to her. Panic started to rise in her body. She wanted to move but she couldn’t. She looked up and saw that her wrists and ankles were secured to her bed. Then a door opened and a brown haired young lady stepped in. She stood a few feet from the bed.

“Hi. Glad to see you awake,” she said in a friendly way, with a British accent. “How do you feel?”

“Scared,” Julia mumbled as she laid her head back in the pillow. “Where am I? Who are you?”

“My name is Jemma Simmons and I’m a scientist and a doctor. You are at a SHIELD facility and this is a containment module,” Simmons explained, as she gestured around her. “In this specialized room you are safe.”

Julia looked suspiciously at her. Simmons noticed her suspicion.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t harm you,” Simmons said reassuringly. Slowly she came closer to her bed. “Can you tell me who you are?”

Julia looked away from her and stared at the ceiling. She tried to remember. Simmons waited patiently for her answer.

“Are you okay?” Simmons asked after a while.

Julia snapped back from her trance and looked at the friendly lady. Simmons smiled at her.

“Can you tell me your name?” Simmons asked again, gently, without pushing her.

“I…I don’t…know,” Julia whispered.

In the meantime Coulson, May and Daisy Johnson watched and listened to Julia and Simmons by a security camera. Coulson’s and Daisy’s heart broke when they heard her saying that she didn’t know her name.

“I don’t think she’s a thread,” Daisy said carefully.

“It could be a trick taught by HYDRA,” May mentioned. “She can’t be trusted…for now.”

Back in the Containment Module room, Simmons shook her head at Julia.

“Are you sure you don’t know?” Simmons asked, inclining her head a little.

A headache arose and Julia pinched her eyes closed. A blurry memory came into her mind. It was a dark long haired man with a metal arm, blood at the corner of his mouth.

_You’re Julia_

“I…I think my name…is Julia?”

Simmons smiled at her.

“Julia. That’s a lovely name. Listen Julia, everything will be fine. We will take great care of you.”

Julia looked at her, mesmerized. She had never seen such a kind and loving person before. Although she hadn’t noticed while they were talking, the doctor laid a bare hand on hers, and held her. Suddenly they both screamed out as energy got exchanged. The heart monitor started to send out alarms.

Coulson, Daisy and May burst into the room. Coulson pulled Simmons away from Julia and broke the absorption. May aimed her gun at Julia. In panic and tears, Julia looked at the weapon. With her blurry view she just saw a silhouette that looked like the Madam.

“No please, I beg you. I’ll be good. I’ll obey. Please don’t punish me,” she sobbed in panic and mercy.

May was shocked to see how vulnerable Julia was, and recognised it was no act. Slowly she placed her gun back in its holster. She glanced at Coulson and Daisy, who were taking care of Simmons. They also were amazed to see how Julia really was. Simmons sat up and laid a hand on her head.

“Oh my,” she mumbled.

“Are you okay?” Daisy asked worriedly.

“Yes, I am. My blood pressure got lower while it happened, and my heart went slower, but it’s getting better now,” Simmons answered, after a few deep breaths. She looked at the panicking Julia. “I think she did that when I touched her.” She looked back at Daisy and Coulson. “I want to check her DNA to confirm my thoughts.”

With the help of Coulson and Daisy she stood up. From the pocket of her lab coat she took out a set of gloves and a syringe. She put on the gloves and prepared the injection.

“This will hurt a little but it’s necessary. Promise me not to shock me?”

Julia nodded. Carefully Simmons jabbed the needle carefully into Julia’s skin. Julia clenched her jaw, and looked away as the needle went into her. The tube filled itself with her blood.

“I think that’s enough.”

Daisy gave Simmons a cotton pad. With gentle care she removed the needle and replaced it with the cotton. Daisy fastened it with some medical micropore tape.

“I will be back in a few moments,” Simmons said to Julia with a smile.

Then the four went to the exit.

“Please,” they heard from the bed. They all looked at Julia. “Please don’t leave me alone. I’m scared,” Julia begged.

They looked at each other.

“You go. I’ll stay with her,” Daisy offered.

The trio left and Daisy took a seat next to the bed. She smiled at Julia to ease the tension. Julia’s bottom lip started to tremble in fear.

“What-what’s going to happen?” Julia asked, scared.

“Don’t be scared. My name is Daisy. We want to know some information about you. Is it okay to ask you some questions?”

Julia nodded.

“Is there anything you can remember of the past 36 hours?”

Julia stared into nothing, while memories flashed through her mind.

_Metal armed man standing unsteady on his legs._

_“It’s me, Bucky! ”_

_Blood from his abdomen._

_“You’re a friend of The Avengers.”_

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“I…I think….somebody hurt him,” she started to sob.

“Hurt who?”

“Bucky…He’s my friend.”

The SHIELD agent felt sorry for her. She looked at the restraints around Julia’s wrists and ankles.

“If I release you, would you run away or attack me?”

Julia shook her head.

Carefully, without touching her skin, she removed the hand cuffs. After Julia had been released she rubbed her wrists. She moved to lay on her side and pulled up her knees to her chest, so she laid in a fetal position. Once again she stared into nothing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Simmons looked through a microscope at Julia’s blood sample while May was searching for information on the computer.

“I have a SHIELD report here from a couple of months ago, by Maria Hill,” May said. “Her name is Julia Berger. Date of birth is unknown.” She looked amazed. “Wow. She has absorbing powers.”

Simmons looked up from her microscope.

“So that’s what happened.”

A bleep from a computer that scanned her blood for a certain DNA match. Simmons stood up and went to the computer for the results.

“My suspicion is confirmed. She is Inhuman,” Simmons reported. 

“She was a victim of the Terrigen Crystals,” Coulson remarked, as he looked at the security images of Julia’s room. “That’s how she got her powers. Perhaps for that reason, HYDRA wanted to have her trained as their soldier.”

“And that’s why we have to keep a close eye on her,” they heard a man saying.

The team looked up at the male’s voice.

“Sir, with all respect, I don’t think we are dealing here with HYDRA’s soldier,” Coulson said. “We are dealing here with a victim of HYDRA.”

Nick Fury walked closer to Coulson, stared fiercely with his single eye.

“That’s your opinion, agent. This is mine. I don’t trust her, since she is back and working for HYDRA.”

Then he handed out two sets of gloves. “Give these to her and wear them as well for your protection. Start the interrogation about HYDRA.”

“Yes, Sir,” Coulson responded as he took the gloves.

* * *

As he promised, Steve hadn’t left Bucky’s side. He only left when he needed to go to the bathroom but then his place was taken over by Sam, Wanda or Natasha.

Every three hours Bruce checked Bucky’s vitals and cleaned his wounds. While he did the latest medical ritual, he started talking to Steve.

“He is making progress, thanks to the serum.”

Steve sighed, relieved.

“My guess is that we can begin waking him up slowly in a day or two. But he still needs a lot of rest,” Bruce said.

“Thank you, Bruce.”

Natasha quietly entered the room.

“Fury wants to talk with all of us.”

Steve looked worriedly at Bucky, scared to leave him.

“It’s okay to leave him alone for ten minutes,” Bruce reassured him.

With a reluctant sigh, he stood up. For a moment he looked at his friend, before leaving the room. He followed the two other Avengers to the conference room.

All of the Avengers had assembled in the conference room of the compound. Fury had been projected in a hologram.

“Avengers,” he started. “I will go straight to the point. We have Ms. Berger in our custody.”

A wave of shock went through some of the Avengers. Curious as to his reaction, Natasha looked at Tony. His face was calm as he folded his arms over his chest. Behind him she saw young Peter Parker. He looked with wide eyes at the hologram.

A new digital screen appeared next to Fury’s hologram. It showed Julia, laying curled up in a bed.

“We are holding her in a secret facility of SHIELD. We consider her a danger because of her time inside HYDRA.”

“She’s not a danger!” Steve snapped, as he jolted up from his seat. “She’s a victim, Nick!”

The digital screen flickered and a tied up Julia was shown. They saw how a dark haired young female and Julia got ‘electrocuted’ by her powers.

“Oh my god,” Natasha whispered as she watched the image.

Peter backed away in fear as he saw the footage.

“Is this what a victim does, Captain?” Fury asked as the image played.

Steve looked away from the image.

“That’s clearly an accident!” Sam called out. “Can’t you see she’s tied up?”

Fury ignored him and the image of Julia turned off.

“We are going to interrogate her about HYDRA. She stays here till we have the answers we want.”

Then the signal disconnected and the hologram went off.

Steve stood up abruptly and left. He went straight to the medical wing to be at Bucky’s side. When he opened the door he was relieved to find Bucky where he had left him, with a beeping heart monitor next to his bed. Bucky’s breathing was slow and steady. With a sigh Steve took a seat and held his friend’s hand. He swallowed while he searched for words.

“SHIELD has Julia,” Steve told Bucky, after a period of thinking. “They believe she is a danger now because of HYDRA. But we know better. Don’t we, Bucky?”

He looked at the heart monitor. The heartbeat had been calm and steady since the surgery.

A knock made Steve look at the door. It was Sam.

“Natasha is going to negotiate with SHIELD to bring Julia back here,” Sam informed as he walked in. “We all think she belongs here. Well, except for Tony and Clint.”

Steve huffed a smile because he knew how stubborn Tony could be. But he had never expected Clint’s behavior.

Sam looked at Bucky.

“Any progress?”

“He is improving,” Steve said as he nodded. “He stays stable and the wounds are healing, which is a good thing.”

“I think it will be good for Bucky’s recovery when Julia’s here. They really have a good connection with each other,” Sam remarked.

Steve could only agree with him.

“The little guy, Peter, he told me he was a guest student at her school in her country, Belgium. He is scared of what she has become,” Sam shared.

“Which I can imagine,” Steve agreed.

“He told me something we didn’t know before.”

Steve’s brow creased into a frown.

“She got abused in her home by her stepfather. Badly,” Sam sighed. “So it wasn’t only HYDRA who tortured her.”

Steve mumbled a curse as he laid his head in his hands. He couldn’t believe what Sam shared.

* * *

Coulson entered the Containment Module room and sat down next to Daisy. Julia’s eyes moved from nowhere to his face. She frowned as she looked at him.

“Hey, I’m Phil Coulson,” he greeted her gently. “We met at your home in Belgium, a few months ago. Do you remember?”

Julia shook her head as she sat up in bed.

“I want to ask you some questions about HYDRA,” Coulson said.

Julia nodded in agreement. Coulson opened the file. He flipped a few pages.

“Can you tell me how you got into HYDRA?”

For a moment she was silent, searching for words. Coulson and Daisy waited patiently.

“I…I can’t…remember,” Julia stuttered.

“First thing you can remember?” Daisy asked gently.

Julia was thinking.

“Uhm…I…I can remember a lot of…pain. Like I was…on fire. I was screaming. Something in my nose snapped and started bleeding. Then I opened my eyes and…I saw him.”

“Who?” Coulson asked as he flipped through the file.

“I don’t know his name,” Julia answered. “I had to call him Sir. He called me ‘love’ and sometimes ‘my precious’.”

“Can you describe this man?” Daisy asked.

“Tall and slim build, with short grey hair. Blue eyes. Round glasses. British accent and he always wears a suit,” Julia recalled. A smile on her lips. “He was nice to me.”

Coulson and Daisy looked at each other.

“Whitehall?” Daisy whispered to him.

“What else can you remember?” Coulson continued as he took some notes.

“They punished me if I was bad at fighting or when I failed in a mission.”

“What was your punishment?”

Julia’s eyes grew wide with anxiety as she remembered her punishment. She tried to control her breathing.

“They…they put me…in the chair.” She swallowed as she closed her eyes. “Electricity went through my body.” She bowed her head and grasped her hair. “So much pain. But after that…” She looked up at them. “…I can’t remember anything.”

Coulson and Daisy looked at her in shock. They couldn’t believe what they had heard. Tears rolled down Julia’s cheeks.

The agents looked at each other. Coulson looked at the file in his hands and then at Julia. He could see she was tired, scared and upset. He stood up.

“I think this is enough for today,” he announced. “You could use some sleep.”

Then Coulson remembered the gloves.

“Oh I forgot! Wear this for your safety,” he said as he gave them to Julia and a pair to Daisy.

Julia took them from him and put them on. Coulson left the room.

Daisy saw how Julia put on the gloves with trembling hands. When she had them on, Daisy carefully laid her bare hands on Julia’s gloved hands. Nothing happened.

Julia looked anxiously at her.

“I understand your fear. I’ve been in the same situation.”

Julia looked at their hands.

“You have…powers?” Julia asked, confusedly.

Daisy nodded.

“How did you get them?”

“Well, a colleague and I got led into a cave by someone. In that cave were the Terrigen Crystals. We got exposed to them. My colleague didn’t survive but the other person and I got covered by a stone skin. Once we broke out of it, we had our powers,” Daisy explained.

“Terrigen Crystals?” Julia asked.

“It is a blue elongated crystal. When you break it, a mist comes out and covers you with stone.”

Julia stared into the distance again as she listened. Daisy noticed it, but this stare was different. She was just tired.

“It’s late. We should go to sleep.”

Slowly Daisy stood up and walked to a closet. She opened it, took out a blanket and a pillow. When she turned around she saw that Julia has fallen asleep. She laid the collected items on the couch that was a few feet from the bed. Quietly she walked to Julia’s bed and covered her with the sheets. Daisy saw how calm and innocent she was while she slept.

Then she returned to the couch, took off her shoes and her green off shoulder top and lay down on her improvised bed. 

* * *

Peter stood on the bank of the Hudson River, while the spring sun was going down. He was still recovering from the images he had of Julia. He heard some footsteps and looked over his shoulder. Wanda smiled at him and he smiled back.

“You are scared of her,” she stated.

Peter swallowed in shock, and looked back at the river. Wanda stood next to him.

“I understand your fear, but you don’t have to be afraid for her. Julia is a very sweet girl. Very caring about others.”

“I know,” he mumbled. “But…but they say…the crystals could perhaps change her.”

“When we met her, she was a very kind girl and helpful. She gave up her life to save ours.”

He looked at her with tears in his eyes.

“Can you tell me….”

“No, I won’t tell you how we lost her,” she cut him off with a gentle tone. “And if I tell you it won’t be good for your mental wellbeing. I’m sorry.”

Peter nodded in understanding. Then they heard a whistle. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw Tony Stark waiting by his car. He beckoned Peter to come over.

“I guess we’re leaving. Hopefully we will meet again.” Peter said to Wanda.

“We will,” she said with a smile. “Just don’t talk about her with him. He doesn’t like her because she was in HYDRA.”

He nodded again and went to join his mentor.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy reading! Please leave your opinion in a comment...

_Her back was hard against a wall. She felt the blood dripping along her fingers while she pressed firmly on her stab wound. A gun was aimed at her. Julia looked to the side and saw a man with dark long hair screaming at her. But his voice was mute. Suddenly she heard a bang and felt a stab of pain in her shoulder. She looked at her bloody shoulder and then at the man behind the gun. An old face, with blond hair, and blue eyes staring at her. Behind him a green giant ran up to them. The old man stepped aside. The green giant grabbed Julia by the waist and threw her out of the building, into the cold, snowy sky._

With a scream Julia jolted awake. The heart machine bleeped rapidly as it measured an elevated heartbeat. Daisy got up quickly from the couch.

“Hey, everything okay?”

Julia was panting in fear. With a gloved hand, Daisy rubbed her back to calm her down.

“Calm down. Just breath.”

“Where am I?” Julia asked in panic while she looked around.

“In a SHIELD facility. You’re safe.”

She pulled down the collar of her hospital gown and looked at her shoulder. There was a scar.

“Who did this to you?” Daisy questioned.

“A man…from HYDRA,” Julia answered while she tried to control her breathing.

“The British man?”

Julia shook her head, still recovering from the nightmare.

“No. This man kind of raised me, for a while,” Julia explained.

“Can you describe him?” Daisy asked.

“He was old. Not so tall as The Sir. Blond hair, also blue eyes. Like The Sir he’s wearing a suit. ” 

Then the door of the room opened and revealed Simmons with a tray of food in her hands.

“Good morning,” she greeted Julia with a smile. “I saw by the security camera you were awake, so I brought you some breakfast.”

She placed the tray on the dinner table. Then she walked to the bed and glanced at the monitor.

“Oh my,” she said as she saw the high heart rate.

“She had a nightmare,” Daisy said

Simmons felt sorry for her.

“Oh you poor girl. Don’t worry.” Her hand went into the pocket of her coat and took out a set of rubber gloves. “I will release you from the monitor and the oxygen tube. I think it isn’t necessary anymore,” she explained as she put on the gloves.

She moved closer to Julia and removed the sensors from her chest. Julia winced a little by every touch. Simmons turned off the monitor when a long beep occurred. Then she removed the tube from her nose.

“There…you’re free from the machines now. You can have your breakfast.”

Julia left the bed and went to the dinner table. On the tray were two glasses of orange juice and two bowls of milk and chocolate cereal. Also a small plate with slices of watermelon.

“Looks good, Jemma,” Daisy complimented her.

“Would you like to have coffee or tea, Julia?”

Julia glanced between the food and the doctor.

“Uhm, I guess this is enough,” she answered with a smile.

With a sweet smile, Simmons left the room. The two women took a seat and started eating. Julia cut the melon into smaller pieces, stabbed her fork into a piece, and took a small bite. The fruit was soft in her mouth. Slowly she ate more of the fruit.

Simmons came back with a mug of coffee for Daisy and a pile of clothes for Julia.

“Forgot to say. I saw in your blood results you have a lactose-allergy. The milk with the cereal is soy milk,” Simmons told.

Julia took a spoonful of milk and cereal.

“It tastes good,” she said with a mouthful.

Simmons and Daisy smiled.

“Also I have some clean clothes here for you. I think you could use a shower.”

Julia was still chewing while Simmons was talking to her. She even had slight difficulties with swallowing her food. Simmons and Daisy looked worried at her. Then she spat out her food in nearby plant and started to cough. When the cough ended she released a relieved sigh.

“Are you okay?” Daisy asked worried.

Julia nodded.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just difficulty with swallowing my food,” she explained, embarrassed, moving back to the table.

“I think it has something to do with stress and anxiety,” Simmons explained. “Take your time with eating and have small bites. Okay?”

Julia nodded as she took a small bite of the watermelon. She swallowed it easily.

“I think I’ll stick with the melon.”

* * *

Natasha and Sam were sitting in an aircraft, blindfolded and handcuffed. They could feel by the movement they were still flying.

“Why are we blindfolded?” Sam wondered out loud.

“Because we are going to a secret facility of SHIELD,” agent Maria Hill answered, sitting opposite them.

“But why blindfolded during the flight?”

“Or else you’ll see the directions to the facility.”

Sam chuckled.

“My codename is Falcon but that doesn’t mean I have the eyesight of a falcon. Besides, there’s no road signs above the clouds.”

“Sam, please shut up,” Natasha sighed, annoyed. 

After an hour they felt some turbulence and they could feel the aircraft losing height.

“I guess we’re landing,” Natasha mumbled to Sam.

“Finally.”

After landing, they were supported, helped to stand, and were led to the exit of the QuinJet. Then their blindfold and handcuffs got removed. In front of them they saw an Asian woman and a few SHIELD soldiers.

“Agent Romanov. Mr. Wilson. Welcome. My name is Melinda May. Please follow me.”

They went deeper into the facility.

“Before you can meet your friend, I would like to show you some information. Perhaps familiar, perhaps new,” she shared as they walked into a lab. “We have added new data to this file that we found in the SHIELD database.”

May gave Natasha the file. Natasha opened it and read. Her eyes widened.

“Adamantium skeleton? Oh my god,” she whispered. She looked at Sam. “She has the same serum as Bucky and Steve.”

Sam shook his head in disbelief.

“Anything else new?” he asked.

“Lactose allergy and vitamin deficiency. But nothing else so far to be concerned about.”

“During our previous interrogation we noticed she has large gaps in her memories. At this moment we are bringing her to the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine. This machine will reveal the memories she is missing,” May told.

“One of her powers is that when she touches somebody, she will remember certain memories,” Sam explained.

“For us this is our safest method. One of us did touch her and…well…she survived it.”

* * *

Julia was looking at the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine. After an explanation about the device, she got scared to enter it. Daisy comforted her.

“It’s okay, Julia. If you want us to stop, we will stop.”

Julia took a trembling breath. After a moment she nodded, a sign that she was willing to go into the machine. Slowly she walked to the machine and lay down in it. Simmons turned it on. It gave a humming sound and a blue LED light went on around her forehead. Her gloved hand moved like she was searching for something. Daisy decided to hold her hand to calm her down.

“Okay, take a deep breath,” Daisy soothed.

Julia did what she had been advised while Simmons pushed at some buttons.

“We will start with some easy memories,” Simmons said. “What was your breakfast this morning?”

In her mind, Julia saw her morning breakfast.

“It was watermelon and orange juice.”

“Okay. Can you remember your last week’s breakfast?”

Slowly a memory appeared in her mind.

“I can see myself. Sitting in my cell. Eating dry bread. It was hard to eat it, so I dipped it in a glass of water.”

“Tell us about what happened 48 hours ago?”

“I’m in pain…like electricity is going through my body. I see…” Tears welled up in her eyes. “Bucky. He’s bleeding. The look in his eyes. He’s dying.”

“Who did this?” Simmons asked.

Julia started to breathe rapidly as tears rolled down her cheek. She closed her eyes and held Daisy’s hand firmly.

“No,” she sobbed. “No. This can’t be true!”

“What do you remember?” Daisy asked carefully.

Julia looked at her, in distress.

“It was me. I killed him.” She panicked. “I killed him! I would never do that to him. He’s my friend. He helped me to escape HYDRA. And…I killed him.”

The two ladies looked at each other as they saw how upset Julia was.

“Did anyone give you orders to hurt him?” Daisy asked, unsure how the vulnerable girl will react.

“The Madam and the Sir. They put me in the chair. Saying the words.”

“What words?” Simmons wondered.

“No! Stop!” Julia begged. “Please stop.”

Simmons moved her fingers to the keyboard to shut off the machine.

“No. Continue the interrogation,” they heard a male voice growling through the speakers in the ceiling.

Daisy and Simmons looked at the large window and saw Fury standing there. Along with the two ladies, Julia could only see a glimpse of him. With his single eye he gave them a dominant stare. Behind him, Natasha, Sam, May and Maria Hill entered the room. Sam and Natasha came closer to the window and saw Julia in the machine.

“We need the words,” Fury growled into the mic.

Daisy and Simmons looked unsure to each other. They decided to obey the director. Julia started to tremble in fear.

“No,” she begged with a shaky voice.

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Daisy soothed. “But he wants to know. What are the words?”

Memories of Madam HYDRA, reading out of the little blue notebook, came in Julia’s mind.

_‘Zhelaniye. Chetvertyy. Bol.’_

“Zhelaniye. Chetvertyy. Bol.”

Julia released Daisy’s hand and grasped in her hair. She growled as a stab of pain emerged in her head.

_‘Otorvannost. Doma.’_

“Otorvannost. Doma,” Julia moaned.

At the other side of the window, Sam and Natasha looked in suspense at the event.

“This is not good,” Sam whispered.

“Julia, can you tell us what these words mean?” Daisy asked.

But Julia couldn’t stop. The voice of Madam HYDRA continued in her thoughts, as she spoke out the words.

_‘Vozrodivshiysya. Nikto. Mechtatel.’_

“Vozrodivshiysya. Nikto. Mechtatel.”

Natasha stood in front of Fury.

“Nick, stop this! This will go wrong, very wrong!” she warned.

Daisy took Julia by her shoulders.

“Hey, snap out of it!”

_‘Potrogat. Estminets!’_

“Potrogat. Estminets!”

Then Julia screamed out her pain. In a reaction, Simmons turned off the machine. Julia stopped screaming and kept her eyes closed. Simmons came over and tapped gently on Julia’s cheeks to wake her up.

“Julia?”

Julia snapped her eyes open. Daisy and Simmons could see she had a different kind of look and the color of her eyes had changed slightly.

“Gotov Soblyudat,” Julia mumbled in a growl.

Her voice was filled with anger.

_‘Find The Winter Soldier and kill him_ ,’ says the voice of Madam HYDRA in her mind.

Suddenly she grabbed Simmons by her lab coat and threw her to the other side of the room. In a blink of an eye, she stood up and kicked Daisy to the floor. Quickly Julia jumped off the machine and restrained Daisy by grabbing her at her throat with her gloved hands. Using her powers Daisy was able to blow Julia off her. Julia smashed against the ceiling and fell past the machine onto the floor. Daisy stood up, walked around the machine and looked at Julia as she was climbing back on her feet. Julia looked up at the woman who had blown her away. Blood dripped from a cut above her eyebrow, from her nose, and her lip was busted open.

Daisy held up her hands.

“Julia, let this stop.”

“Who the hell is Julia?” she mumbled and started to attack Daisy.

Suddenly a gunshot was fired and a bullet hit Julia in the thigh. She screamed out in pain and fell to her knees, grabbing her leg. Daisy looked behind her and saw Maria Hill with a group of SHIELD agents. Smoke was coming out of the muzzle of Hill’s gun.

“What did you do?” Daisy asked, shocked and annoyed.

“Damn woman!” Sam screamed as he stood between Hill and the two young women. “I told you not to shoot!”

Natasha started to aim a gun, stolen from a SHIELD agent, at Hill.

Julia stood up, with anger in her eyes she looked at the group of people.

“I will show no pain,” she growled.

Sam was amazed at how she looked. He had never seen her looking so evil. Not even in the HYDRA facility in the Swiss Alps. Slowly he walked to her, while he held up his hands.

“It’s me, Sam. Remember me?”

She narrowed her eyes at him as he came closer. Sam noticed Julia had grown a few inches and lost a lot of weight. Her hair was dull and damp, her skin was pale, and she had dark circles underneath her eyes.

“Let me help you. Okay?”

She was confused about what he said.

Slowly he moved his hand towards her face.

Suddenly she grabbed Sam’s hand by the wrist and moved it behind his back. Her other gloved hand grabbed the collar of his shirt. Their faces were separated by just a few inches. Despite her look of weak, she had a strong hold.

The group of SHIELD agents aimed their gun at them and Daisy was ready to use her powers again.

“No wait!” Sam called out, as he looked over his shoulder. “I have this under control!”

He looked back at Julia. They felt each other’s breaths against their faces. In her green-grey eyes he could see she wasn’t the Julia he knew before. It broke his heart.

“Listen. You’re hurt. I want to help you.”

“I don’t trust you,” she growled at him.

Slowly and out of Julia’s sight Sam moved up his free hand.

“You will trust me.”

Daisy walked up to them. Julia got distracted by her. Suddenly Sam laid his hand on Julia’s cheek. They screamed out their pain as energy got exchanged.

In distress, Daisy looked at Natasha, who still had the gun aimed at Hill. Natasha was looking at them, slightly worried. When Daisy looked back, she could see the minor wounds disappearing from Julia’s face.

“What the…?”

Then Daisy pulled them apart. They both fell. Julia fell on her back and covered her head with her arms. Memories gave her sharp pains in the head and she growled in agony.

_Sam drinking cappuccino_

_Sam talking with Julia along the river_

_Sam putting pressure on Julia’s gunshot wound_

_Julia touching Sam’s cheek with her bare hand_

Sam knelt next to Julia, who was panting in distress. Gently he took her by the shoulders.

“Hey, calm down. It’s over,” he hushed her.

Julia took a deep breath through her nose.

“S-Sam?” Julia mumbled letting go her head, as she recognized a certain smell.

She looked at him. Sam noticed her own green color was back in her eyes.

“Sam!” Julia exclaimed and embraced him.

He smiled in relief and hugged her back. Julia started to cry, while she buried her face into his chest. Even Daisy’s eyes teared up.

In the background the agents still had their weapons aimed.

“Put the weapons down. It’s safe now,” Natasha told Hill.

Hill looked at Fury, at the other side of the window. He did nothing and just gazed with his dominant stare at the scene, with May next to him. The expression on May’s face was a little worried.

“I have to follow our safety protocols. Director’s orders.”

Natasha sighed annoyed as she still kept her gun aimed at Hill.

Julia moved her head up and looked sad in Sam’s eyes.

“I…I killed…Bucky,” Julia sobbed.

“No, you did not,” Sam reassured her, as he shook his head.

“Yes I did. I remembered. He’s dead.”

“No, he is still alive. He is a fighter. Besides, you weren’t yourself.”

“How can you be sure?” she asked skeptically.

“Because Bucky told me.”

Julia started to feel sick as she looked away from him. Sam could see she went pale and got worried.

“Hey? Julia?”

“I…I don’t feel…so good,” she moaned and fell limp against Sam.


	10. Chapter 10

Daisy joined the duo and laid a hand on Julia’s forehead, where sweat lay on the skin. She felt Julia’s skin burning up through her glove.

“She’s blazing hot. Jemma!”

From behind the group of agents, Simmons appeared with a first aid box. She took two sets of rubber gloves out of the box. Sam carefully laid Julia on the floor. He looked worriedly at her as she grew paler.

“Here, put these on,” she said as she gave Sam a pair.

With gloved hands Simmons ripped Julia’s bloody legging. No wound. No scar. Confused and amazed, she looked at Sam and Daisy.

“I could see the wounds on her face disappearing when she touched you,” Daisy said to Sam.

“Her powers can heal every wound when she touches somebody, skin to skin,” he explained. “But I think the bullet is still in there.”

Jemma moved her finger around the area where the wound should have been. While she moved she put on a little pressure. Nearby her groin, Jemma could feel something. Julia winced and groaned in pain. Sam was relieved she could react.

“There’s the bullet.”

She looked up at Hill and the group.

“I want a clear environment while doing an emergency operation. I want everybody out of here,” she ordered the group of SHIELD agents.

Hill looked at Fury. This time he nodded. Hill and the group of agents put their weapons back in their holsters and left the area.

Natasha sighed in relief, but she stood unsteadily on her legs as she started to feel dizzy. She decided to take a seat in the chair at the control panel of the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine.

Daisy looked worried at the woman. Natasha noticed.

“I’m okay. Just dizzy and a headache. Keep your eyes on Julia,” Natasha reassured her.

Daisy nodded and put her attention back on Julia.

Simmons injected an anesthetic into Julia’s leg. She waited while the medication did its work.

“Daisy, I need your assistance during surgery.” Simmons looked at Sam. “And I need you to keep her awake.”

Sam nodded and shifted his attention back to Julia, who was on the edge of passing out.

“Julia? Can you hear me?” She moaned. “Is that a yes or no?”

“Yes,” she whispered in a moan.

He shook her shoulder to get her out of the daze.

“Julia, I want you to look at me.”

She could barely open her eyes but managed to look at him.

“Name every Avenger you remember,” Sam said.

She smiled and chuckled softly as she stared along Sam. She took a deep breath.

“Bucky. Steve.”

Her voice was soft and weak when she spoke.

“Okay, who else?” Sam asked while he checked her pulse. Her heartbeat was fine.

“A redhead. I can remember she looked pretty. Don’t know her name,” Julia continued.

Sam looked at Natasha. The former spy had tears in her eyes as she looked at the suffering Julia.

“Her name is Natasha,” Sam said.

“Natasha,” she repeated in a whisper. “Wanda is pretty too,” Julia continued with a soft voice while she still stared into a distance. “I can remember the doctor who can transform into a green giant.”

“That’s Bruce. Anybody else you can remember?”

Julia looked at Sam and smiled at him.

“You of course, Sam.” Julia swallowed, her mouth was dry. “I remember an exercise we did at a river. Can we please do that?”

“You’re having a panic attack?” he asked worried.

Julia blinked slowly.

“No, I just need distraction.”

“Okay, good. What do you see?”

Julia looked at his face.

“I see you. Your dark brown eyes. Your thin goatee,” she said, as she laid a gloved hand on his cheek.

He smiled relieved about the fact she could do the exercise, despite she looked so weak and vulnerable.

“Anything you can smell?” Sam asked.

Julia took a sniff and smiled again.

“Your Old Spice aftershave of course.”

Sam started to chuckle, almost feeling embarrassed.

“It’s funny you recognized that brand.”

“I can remember my mom used it even though it’s for men.” Then Julia got a confused look on her face. “Do I smell blood?”

“They are doing surgery on you now.”

Julia huffed and looked into the distance again.

“Funny. I feel nothing.”

“That’s because of anesthesia. Is there anything you can hear?” Sam continued.

Julia listened for a few seconds, while she was still gazing ahead of her.

“Jemma’s heavy breathing. She must be concentrating very hard.” Then she heard a ‘cling’ in a metal tray, that was being held by Daisy. “I guess she found the bullet.”

“Correct. Luckily it wasn’t very deep,” Simmons explained. “I’ll stitch you up.”

While she got stitched up by Simmons, Sam kept a close eye on her as she stared into the distance. He could see she was breathing steadily. He laid a gloved hand on her forehead. Her skin felt less hot and the color was coming back into her skin. After a few minutes, Simmons was done.

“There. I suggest you have a rest in your room,” Simmons advised her.

Sam and Daisy put their arms around her shoulders and helped her up. Once Julia was standing on her legs, she saw Natasha sitting at the control panel of the machine. Her eyes widened when Natasha stood up carefully and walked to her, slightly wobbly. She noticed some stitches above Natasha’s left eyebrow. Foggy memories of a fight between Natasha and herself came in her mind. Once again, tears welled up in her eyes.

“Did I…?” Julia stammered, scared for the redhead.

Natasha shook her head and laid her hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes.

“Get some rest first. We will talk about this later.”

Julia nodded. Then the trio started walking, followed by Simmons who supported Natasha.

They arrived in her room and let her sit on the bed. Daisy helped Julia with taking off the bloody leggings. Simmons moved up the sleeve of her long-sleeved shirt. Sam had to leave the room when he saw how skinny Julia really was.

“Nice tattoo,” Simmons said as she pointed at Julia’s left upper arm. “Does it mean anything?”

Julia looked confused at her and then to her upper arm. It showed a blue hexagon. She couldn’t remember getting that tattoo.

“I don’t know.”

Simmons decided it was better to ask no further questions and injected a cocktail of painkillers and antibiotics into her arm. Daisy gave her clean leggings and helped her put them on. Then Julia laid down on her bed. Simmons left her room, while Daisy took a seat on the couch. Julia fell asleep within a minute.

Sam sat on the floor across the corridor from the entrance of Julia’s room, trying to believe what he witnessed the past hour. He saw Simmons leave the room. She did not notice Sam sitting there when she left. He decided to stand up, and went quietly back into the room. Daisy saw him coming back in.

“Are you alright?” she asked, with a soft voice to not wake Julia.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just need to sink everything inside my mind,” Sam answered, also with a soft voice. He sighed as he looked at the sleeping Julia. “It’s hard to see her like that. It’s even weird to see her alive.”

Daisy looked confused at him.

“What do you mean by that?”

Sam let out a nervous chuckle.

“This is kind of hard to tell,” he admitted.

He took a deep breath as he took a seat next to Daisy. He leaned forward as he rested his elbows on his knees. He took a deep breath and started explaining, not looking at anyone.

“While we helped her escape from HYDRA she got badly wounded, stabbed by a nine inch knife, leaving a deep wound into her stomach. Despite the wound and the amount of blood she was losing, she was fighting.”

He looked at the sleeping Julia. “For us. But then she got shot in the shoulder. We won the battle against HYDRA but she lost her own battle.”

“Wow, just…wow.” Daisy looked at Julia, feeling sorry. “Poor girl. She really is a victim of HYDRA.”

Sam could just agree with her.

“When did this all happen?” Daisy asked, curious.

“She died four months ago. Three months ago her body went missing and we found out just two days ago she was alive again.”

Daisy was shocked.

* * *

Natasha, Director Fury, May and Agent Coulson were watching the footage of what happened at the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine. They were now watching how Julia called out the Russian words.

“It’s like the words were taking control over her,” Coulson said. “But why these words?”

“HYDRA can make their soldiers a compliant killing machine by giving them trigger words. Just like with Bucky Barnes and now with Julia,” Natasha started to explain. “Once these words were spoken aloud, they would come under the control of whoever spoke the words.”

May blinked her eyes in confusion.

“But she said the words herself.”

“She was diagnosed with PTSD by Dr. Bruce Banner. Because of your machine she relived memories of the person saying those words. Which triggered her and…well…you know the rest.” She looked at Fury. “Why do you want to know her words?”

Fury glanced at her and walked away without saying a word. Natasha watched him as he left the room and found his actions very suspicious. 

* * *

A white ball hit an orange ball, which disappeared into a pocket of a pool table with a blue baize.

“Nice shot,” Tony complimented.

Clint just smiled. He bent over the table and addressed his billiard cue to the white. With a smooth move the cue struck the white ball. The white gently hit a black ball. Slowly the black ball rolled and stopped an inch before the pocket.

“Crap,” Clint hissed.

Tony laughed as he stood up.

“Nice try,” he chuckled as he patted Clint’s shoulder.

Clint mumbled a few curses as he took a seat on the sofa, next to Peter. The young boy had his attention on his smartphone, tapping on the screen with his left hand. His right hand was covered in a bandage. Clint glanced between Peter and his phone.

“What are you doing?” he asked curiously.

“Playing Tetris,” Peter mumbled in reply.

Clint’s eyebrows shot up.

“Really? I played that game when I was your age. Let me see.”

Clint shoved a little closer to Peter and watched the screen of Peter’s phone. He saw how Peter placed a square block into an empty space and a line of blocks disappeared.

“Wow, hasn’t changed a bit,” Clint said, amazed.

Then upon the screen appeared a pop up;

**_WhatsApp_ **

_MJ: Hey Main Man, want to come to my place and hang out? Maybe watching the new Turtles movie?_

This time Clint’s eyebrows frowned as he saw the pop up.

“Who’s MJ? And why are they calling you ‘Main Man’?”

“MJ is my girlfriend and Main Man is the nickname she’s given me,” Peter mumbled as he kept playing the Tetris game.

At the same moment, Tony went to hit the white ball, but instead he missed, leaving a rip in the baize.

“Shit!” he called out.

Pepper came in with a tray in her hands. On that tray were two bottles of beer and a bottle of Coca Cola. She saw the rip.

“Oh Tony. Be careful with your stuff,” she complained as she handed him a bottle of beer.

“The kid shocked me,” he said as he took the bottle. He looked at Peter. “Since when do you have a girlfriend?”

Peter looked up at his mentor.

“For about a year,” he mumbled.

Tony leaned against the table.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Peter shrugged.

“Maybe you just don’t care?” Then the boy stood up, ignoring Pepper as she handed him the Coca Cola bottle. “I have to go,” he said and quickly left, leaving the three adults in amazement.

“Hey!”

Peter stood still in the corridor of the room and turned around.

“Get back here,” Tony demanded.

With reluctance Peter walked back to Tony. When the boy stood in front of his mentor, Tony folded his arms over his chest.

“Kid,” he started. “From now on you will tell me everything. Private, school, mission. Everything.”

Peter just nodded slowly.

“Good. Now tell me, what’s going on in your mind?” Tony asked, slightly worried.

Peter kept silenced, in fear. He swallowed as his face turned red.

“Is it about that girl from HYDRA?”

Peter remembered what Wanda told him.

_Don’t talk about her with him._

“I’m just very tired. School is very busy at the moment,” Peter stuttered.

“What about this MJ? Are you cheating on her with that girl?” Clint asked.

Peter shook his head in defense and panic.

“No. No I don’t. I love MJ more than anyone and Julia is just a friend.”

Tony nodded.

“Okay. Off you go. Say hi to Aunt May from me.”

“Yes Mr. Stark,” Peter said and quickly left.

“FRIDAY, please perform a lie detection scan on the last minute of the conversation,” Tony demanded when Peter had left the area.

“Yes sir,” FRIDAY replied and started scanning.

“Why would you think he’s lying?” Pepper asked, curious.

Tony said nothing while he waited for the scans.

“He is sad, Tony. How did you feel when you almost lost Rhodey?” Pepper preached. She looked at Clint. “And what you did was rude, to look at his phone without permission.”

“Sir, Mr. Parker was lying about the mention of school,” FRIDAY reported, before Clint could apologize.

“Knew it,” Tony mumbled before he took a sip of his beer. “What about the girls?”

“The truth, sir.”

He looked at the rip in the billiard table.

“FRIDAY, call a repairman for the billiard table.”

“Yes sir.”

* * *

Simmons was walking along the hallway of the secret SHIELD facility. She heard a beep from the pocket of her lab coat, and felt her cellphone vibrating. She took it out and looked at the screen. Her eyes widened in amazement as she read a message.

**_SMS_ **

_Daisy: New information. Julia was dead a few months ago. Sam Wilson told me. Perhaps HYDRA brought her back to life._

Simmons walked faster while she placed her phone back in her pocket. She entered the area where Coulson, May and Natasha re-watched the footage of Julia’s interrogation.

“I have new information,” Simmons announced.

The three of them looked at her. Simmons looked at Natasha.

“Did you know she was dead?” Simmons asked Natasha.

Coulson and May looked at Natasha, waiting for her answer. Natasha sighed.

“Yes. I was with her when she died. We assume HYDRA brought her back to life.”

May and Coulson were shocked.

“Oh my God,” May gasped.

“She was dead for how long?” Coulson asked.

“A month. She died four months ago but HYDRA found her body and took her,” Natasha answered. “I was ambushed by her two days ago. That was the first time I met her after her death. Barnes met her a day later; it almost cost him his life.”

Coulson looked away. His gaze was on a still of the security footage of Julia’s interrogation. He rubbed his face.

“Do you know how they brought her back?” he asked as he released his face.

Natasha shook her head.

“Do you know how she got into HYDRA?”

“No, we don’t,” Natasha answered.

Coulson sighed.

“I know it’s very unpleasant for her, but we have to place her back in the machine to know how she got into HYDRA in the first place.”

Reluctantly, Natasha nodded her agreement.

“Also,” Coulson looked at Simmons, “Could you find something else in her DNA?”

“No, I have only checked her on the Inhuman DNA,” Simmons answered as she shook her head.

“I want you to test her on the GH.325 drug.”

“Yes sir,” Simmons said and left.

“GH.325 drug?” Natasha wondered.

“A drug used to bring somebody back to life. It’s made out of alien DNA. It worked on Daisy and me,” Coulson explained.

Natasha’s eyes grew anxious.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy reading! Please leave a review

Hill and Fury were watching footage of the interrogation on a large screen.

“Can you explain me what you are going to do with the words?” Hill asked.

“Prove to the Avengers that she can’t be trusted,” Fury answered.

Behind them they heard a little gasp. They turned around and saw a blonde woman standing in the corridor with her hands over her mouth. She looked in shock at the screen.

“What have they done to her?” she whispered with a sob, as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Agent Elslander!” Fury called out. The woman looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. “You have no right to be here. Go back to your station.”

She nodded and left quickly. A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she walked back to her station. Before she went through the corridor, she wiped away the tears from her eyes. She entered an area with other SHIELD agents, all of them working at their own booth. Elslander took her place in her booth. On her desk was a framed picture of her younger self with a little blonde girl. She released a sigh as she looked at it. Then she focused on her computer keyboard. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

* * *

Slowly, she opened her eyes as she woke up. Julia’s body stiffened as she saw a silhouette in the corner of her room. When the silhouette came closer, it formed into a woman. Julia wanted to gasp for air but she couldn’t breathe, and her eyes grew wider.

“Julia,” the woman said softly. “Please be careful. Don’t trust everybody. There are people who are against you.”

Then she faded away. With a gasp Julia sat up straight in her bed. She was panting, and staring into the distance.

“Hey? Are you okay?” she heard Daisy ask, worried.

“Julia, breath slowly,” she heard Sam.

She felt two strong hands on her shoulders and they shook her a little. Julia blinked and saw a familiar face.

“Sam…” she stuttered, almost choking on her own breath.

“You have to calm down. Follow my breathing,” Sam said.

He took a deep breath and held it for three seconds. Julia did the same. Together they breathed out and breathed in again. They did this ritual a few times, until Julia finally became calm. Sam smiled at her.

“Good,” he said softly.

“Was it a bad dream again?” Daisy asked, gently.

“A woman. She warned me,” Julia mumbled as she rubbed her face.

“A woman?” Sam remarked, amazed.

Julia nodded at him.

“You know that woman?”

“She did look familiar,” Julia answered uncertainty.

“She warned you about what?” Daisy asked.

“Don’t trust everybody,” Julia answered.

“Do you trust me?” Sam asked. Julia nodded. “And her?” he referred to Daisy.

Julia glanced at Daisy.

“I think so,” Julia answered, unsure. “But I don’t trust the one-eyed man.”

* * *

She looked up in shock as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay, Wilma?” a male colleague of hers asked.

Elslander smiled at him.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just tired.”

* * *

Wanda was cleaning, with the music of Glenn Miller on in the background. She dusted off the walnut brown furniture with a cloth. She lifted up a black journal and the Winnie the Pooh teddy bear to wipe off the nightstand. When she went to put the journal back in its place, it slipped out of her hands. It fell open on the floor with the pages upwards. Wanda picked it up and her eyes went over Bucky’s handwriting.

_Julia,_

_Two weeks since you are missing and it hurts. Where can you be? I hope someday, I'll find you somewhere. I'll keep on searching until my dying day and give you the family you deserve._

_Steve and the others are saying I’m not myself anymore. I guess they are right, but they miss you too. Sam still feels guilty because he couldn’t save you in the first place and Wanda sees you in her dreams._

_I wish you were here._

Suddenly a heavy zooming sound interrupted her reading. She looked up in shock at the sound and saw Scott vacuuming the rug, which was in the middle of Bucky’s room. She closed the journal, placed it on the nightstand and continued dusting off the furniture.

After a few minutes they were finished. Scott looked around with his hands on his hips.

“He sure has a nice room,” he complimented.

While looking around he noticed a poster on the wall. It was a poster of a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jersey City Giants from the 40’s, with five autographs signed on it. Scott nodded, impressed.

He looked at Wanda, who had made the bed with clean sheets. She pulled at the blanket till it was tight over the mattress. Scott walked over to her and noticed the stuffed animal.

“He’s sleeping with a teddy bear?” he wondered as he looked at it.

“Not really,” Wanda responded in a mumble. “He won it for Julia at a fun fair, but he keeps it here since she is missing.”

“Do you think Sam and Nat can get her here?”

“Yes, I think so,” Wanda answered, as she lifted up the needle of the gramophone with her telekinesis powers.

* * *

Julia, Sam and Daisy were sitting at the dinner table when Simmons entered.

“Hey,” she greeted as the trio looked up at her. “I’m sorry but I would like to take some more blood.”

“Uhm, okay,” Julia answered and rolled up the sleeve of her sweater.

“Taking blood for what?” Sam asked.

Simmons took out a hypodermic needle from the pocket of her lab coat.

“I need to do one more test,” Simmons explained while she prepared the needle.

Julia laid down her bare arm on the table. With gloved hands Simmons took her arm and was ready to jab in the needle. Suddenly, Sam grabbed Simmons’ wrist. She looked at him in shock.

“You’re going to test her for what?” Sam asked seriously.

In shock, Simmons looked at Daisy. Daisy nodded at her, as the okay to give an explanation. Simmons swallowed and took a deep breath.

“There is a drug called GH.325. This drug causes rapid healing by promoting advanced cellular regeneration, healing severe and fatal wounds,” Simmons explained. “In some cases it can even revive the deceased.”

Sam nodded as he listened to the information.

“Do you know what’s inside that drug?”

“It’s from the blood of a Kree corpse.”

“A kree?” Sam asked, confused.

“An alien,” Simmons sighed.

Sam’s eyes widened. He and Julia were in shock.

“It worked on me,” Daisy said suddenly.

Sam and Julia looked stunned at her.

“I had been shot by somebody from HYDRA. I nearly died, before Simmons gave me this drug. A few days later I was back on track.”

Sam was in shock and could only glare at Daisy.

“Sam?” he heard Julia’s anxious voice. He looked at her. “It’s okay. Let her do the test.”

He nodded and let go of Simmons’ wrist. Gently, Simmons inserted the needle into Julia’s arm. Red blood filled the tube. A smile of relief appeared on Julia’s lips.

“Well, at least my blood isn’t green.”

When the tube was full, Simmons removed the needle and placed silicone tape on Julia’s arm.

“It is a miracle you’re looking so well,” Simmons complimented her.

Julia could only look at her in confusion.

“Okay. I’ll have the results in two hours. I’ll come back with an update,” Simmons said and left the room.

“Something happened that I don’t know about?” Julia asked Sam, scared.

Sam took a trembling breath as he nodded.

“You were stabbed and shot. Remember?”

Julia laid a hand on her own shoulder where she had discovered the scar earlier.

“An old man shot me?” Julia asked, and she looked away from him.

Sam nodded and swallowed a big lump in his throat.

“We tried to save you. You died in Bucky’s arms after losing a lot of blood.”

For a moment she was speechless. After a little while, Julia looked at Daisy.

“And…alien blood huh? I’m an alien now?” she wondered.

“You already had some alien DNA after your Terrigenesis,” Daisy told her.

Julia took another shaky breath as she ran her hands through her hair. She stood up and paced up and down her room. She stood still in a corner with her hands in her hair. Her body started to shiver with anxiety.

She felt two strong hands on her shoulders, which turned her around. Julia nestled her face into the chest of Sam as a tear rolled down her cheek. Sam slowly moved his hands up and down, stroking her back to make her calm.

“I’m a monster,” she mumbled softly.

“No, you’re not,” Sam soothed her. “HYDRA is the monster. Not you.”

“They made me one of them,” she sobbed.

Sam released a sigh and hugged her tighter. Julia released her head and placed her arms around his waist.

* * *

After a briefing, Natasha and May left the control room. Coulson turned off the screen where they had viewed Julia’s interrogation. He grabbed the jacket of his suit from a desk chair and put it on. When he looked up he saw a woman.

“Phil?”

“Oh hey, Wilma,” Coulson greeted.

“I want to see her.”

“You do know about the consequences?” he questioned carefully.

“Yes I do and I’ll take them. I need to speak to her, to clear up some things to her,” Elslander explained. “And I want to talk to her in private.”

For a moment Coulson was thinking about his answer. Then he nodded his permission.

* * *

Steve was still at Bucky’s side. He watched him breathing steadily, told him stories of their adventures in the 40’s, and was praying for Julia’s safety and for Bucky’s wellbeing. He even played Bucky’s favorite music from the 30’s and 40’s from his phone.

Bruce came in and checked his vitals.

“It looks good. The wound is closing nicely. It’s time to wake him up,” Bruce said.

Bruce injected some medication into Bucky's IV to wake him up.

“How long will it take till he wakes up?” Steve asked.

“I guess it will take 72 hours. That’s the minimum,” Bruce answered when he was done giving the medication. “I’ll keep on checking for his vitals every three hours.”

Steve thanked him, and Bruce left the room. Steve held his friend’s hand tightly. He looked up as Wanda entered the room quietly. They smiled at each other.

“I have cleaned his room. I have a strong feeling they’ll bring her home,” Wanda said.

“You know when?” Steve wondered.

“Soon. Very soon,” she answered as she looked at Bucky, stroking his forehead.

* * *

May and Natasha entered Julia’s room. Natasha saw Julia being comforted by Sam in a corner of her room. It broke her heart as she saw the sadness and anxiety on Julia’s face. She went over and embraced her as well. Julia looked up and saw it was Natasha. New tears escaped her eyes.

“Whatever I did, I’m sorry,” she sobbed.

“Once again, we will talk about this later.”

In the background they heard May clearing her throat. They all looked up at her.

“I’m sorry, but we need more answers from you. For that we’ll have to take you in the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine again,” May explained.

Anxiety built up in Julia’s chest and her eyes widened. She tried to remain calm. Julia looked at Sam and Natasha.

“Can’t you just wait for a few days?” Sam asked, irritated, as he looked at the SHIELD agent.

“I know she’s scared but…” May argue, but got cut off.

“I’ll do it,” Julia interrupted.

Sam abruptly looked at Julia.

“You sure about that?” he asked, worried. “You nearly recovered from…”

“The sooner, the better.” Julia sighed and looked at May. “I want this to be over and I want you to have the answers you need. As soon as possible.”

“Very well. Follow me,” May said as she turned around and started walking.

The others wanted to follow her but Natasha got overwhelmed by a severe dizzy spell.

“Nat!” Sam called out as he managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

“Ugh, my head,” Natasha mumbled as she laid a hand on her forehead.

“Do I have to call the doctor back?” Daisy asked as she knelt next to her.

“No. No I’m okay,” Natasha reassured them.

“This is all my fault.”

They looked up at Julia who stood there with tears in her eyes.

“Sweetheart, this isn’t your fault. You weren’t yourself,” Natasha comforted her as she stood up with support from Sam and Daisy.

Julia walked past them and folded back the duvet on her bed.

“Come, lie down,” Julia offered, “You need your rest.”

They just stared at her. Julia walked over to Natasha and took her hands.

“Please, this is all I can offer to you as an apology.”

“You know, a nap will be good for you,” Sam agreed.

Natasha conceded with a smile and walked slowly, with the support of Julia, to the bed. She lay down and Julia covered her with the duvet. With a gloved hand she stroked Natasha’s forehead.

“Once again, I’m sorry for what I did to you,” Julia whispered

Natasha closed her eyes with a smile. Then they left the room.

“That was very kind of you,” May complimented as they walked through the hallways.

“I agree,” Daisy nodded.

Julia could only look away. While walking she kept her gaze to the ground, until Sam put an arm around her shoulder. She looked up and saw him smiling at her with pride in his eyes.

* * *

Madame HYDRA stormed through the hallways of the HYDRA facility in Delaware. She entered an area with a large group of Inhuman agents. She stood in front of them and watched them.

“Agents, as most of you know our subject is missing. I want you to go undercover over the whole country. You must find her, no matter what!” she ordered.

A man with dark sunglasses stepped forward.

“My companion and I will go back to the Avengers’ compound.”

Madame HYDRA nodded.

“Good. You all have 48 hours to get her here,” she announced. “Hail HYDRA!” she then saluted.

“Hail HYDRA!” the group saluted in return and were dismissed.

The Madame watched how everybody left. She took a deep breath.

“And if she's touched him again, I will kill her!” she mumbled to herself.

Whitehall stood by his mini bar, pouring whisky into a glass. With glass in his hand he walked to his desk and took a seat behind it. Out of a drawer he took an old file. He opened it and looked at the mission report, with pictures included. In one of the pictures was a young blonde woman, tied up on a chair with silver adhesive tape over her mouth. He took it in his hand to take a better look. In the hallway he heard high heels. He replaced the picture and the file in the drawer. Madame HYDRA entered his area. She stood in front of his desk and saluted.

“The team is on the way to search for the subject,” she reported.

Whitehall smiled as he looked at her.

“Excellent. When she is here, we will proceed with the program.”

Madame HYDRA walked around his desk, her fingers trailing over the desktop. As she stood behind him, she placed both her hands on his shoulders.

“You’re so tense,” she remarked as she massaged his shoulders. “All her fault. She gives you too much stress. That girl deserves a punishment when she is found.”

“Don’t be too hard on her, my dear,” Whitehall said.

A smile of relief on the Madame’s lips, because he called her ‘dear’.

“It’s The Avengers,” he continued. “And we need her to eliminate them.”

He rolled the glass in his hand, the ice cubes mixing with the beverage. He took another sip.

“There is a Stark Expo coming soon. It would be a pleasure to meet with the CEO, who is Tony Stark’s wife. We can use her as a bait for more Avengers. So all of them will be in one place.”

She rolled her eyes slightly and stopped massaging him. She sat on the desk and placed a hand on his cheek.

“Of course, my darling,” she agreed and kissed him on the lips.

For a moment they shared a passionate embrace.

“Hail HYDRA,” the Madame teased in a whisper, after they stopped.

With sultry movements she left the room. Whitehall smiled slightly when she left. But he wasn’t smiling about the Madame. A new trap was developing in his mind as he looked at a flyer for an expo.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy reading! Please leave a review. 
> 
> Thank you!

Once again, Julia stood in front of the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine. Daisy and Sam stood at her side, Simmons was at the control panel while May was in the recording room. 

“Are you ready?” they heard May ask through the speaker.

Julia felt tensed up, and tried to control her breathing. Memories of the last time went through her mind. A soothing hand on her shoulder. She looked to her right and saw Daisy.

“This time we will stop. I promise. He’s not here,” she reassured.

Julia nodded and took a deep breath. Slowly she walked to the machine and took her place. This time, Sam held her hand as a comfort. The machine clicked on and the humming sound filled the room again.

“Okay Julia, try to remember as far back as you can.” Daisy asked.

Julia closed her eyes and took some deep breaths to help herself remain calm.

“Pain. A lot of pain. I’m bleeding. He carried me,” Julia summed up after a moment.

“Who carried you?”

Julia opened her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Bucky,” she whispered. “I felt weak. I listened to the rhythm of his heart and then I fell asleep.”

Sam bowed his head in sadness and gulped down a lump in his throat.

“Can you go deeper in your memories?” Daisy asked. “To the moment before you met Bucky?”

Julia closed her eyes again and took a few deep breaths.

“Try to remember your first meeting with the British man,” Daisy advised.

In the meantime, Coulson and Elslander entered May’s area and started to watch the scene. Elslander took a trembling breath.

“She looks so bad,” she stated as she swallowed down her tears.

“A villa. I remember a villa,” Julia said after a while. “With another man. He hurt me. A lot. And crystals.”

Julia looked at Daisy.

“The crystals you’ve talked about. I broke one and stones covered up my body. After a while I broke free from it.”

“Okay, what else can you remember?”

Julia stared at the ceiling.

“I got scared after he hurt me again and I tried to escape. I was stopped by a red-golden iron suited man. And somebody in a red-blue spandex kind of suit,” Julia continued. “They wanted the crystals. But they were gone, out of the villa. I got on to the roof of the villa with the blue-red figure. The figure, it shot webs out of its wrists and was able to catch a suitcase. I got shot, fell off the roof and got covered by stone again.”

“Shot by who?” Daisy asked.

“By somebody out of a black SUV. Then I broke free from the stones. There was a soldier who spoke Russian, I think. He kissed me and I…” Julia took a deep breath and swallowed. “I killed him…with my powers. Then _he_ was there.”

“Who’s _he_?”

“A British man, The Sir.”

Daisy looked at Sam.

“I guess we’re getting close.” Daisy looked back at Julia. “Anything else, Julia?”

“He offered me a hand. I could have run away but there was a group of soldiers. The Sir followed me. He reassured me he would take care of me because he promised her.”

“Her?” Sam asked.

Elslander closed her eyes as a tear went over her face.

Julia stared at the ceiling and was silent for a while. Daisy, Simmons and Sam waited patiently till she started talking. Julia saw the blonde woman again. The woman was looking at Julia and smiled.

Coulson laid a hand on Elslander’s shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

“It’s better not to interrupt this with your powers, Wilma,” he advised.

Julia saw the blonde woman slowly fading away. She blinked her eyes a few times.

“The woman of my hallucinations. She was here again,” she admitted.

Daisy looked at the window and saw Coulson and Elslander. Coulson nodded at Daisy as a sign to continue.

“Can you go back to the memory about HYDRA and The Sir?” Daisy asked as she looked back at Julia.

“The Sir took me away,” Julia continued. “To the Swiss Alps where it was safe, according to him. He gave me food and new clothing. I had to give him all my belongings.”

“Do you know his real name?” Daisy asked.

“I had to call him The Sir, out of respect. The Madame, she called him Daniel.”

Daisy looked at May. May went over to a computer. She typed in the information she had just got about The Sir. After a few seconds she got the result.

“Daniel Whitehall,” she informed them.

“Oh my god,” Elslander gasped.

“Then Daisy guessed it right,” Coulson said. He looked at Elslander, who looked back at him, shocked. “I know it’s hard, but I want you to ask her if he is The Sir. You can go to the interrogation room and wait for her.”

Elslander nodded as she accepted the task, and left.

“Okay, one last question, Julia. Did you volunteer to become one of HYDRA?”

“No. But I had to,” Julia admitted.

“Why?” Daisy wondered.

Julia looked at her.

“They would punish you if you refused an order, or kill you if you escaped.”

Daisy was shocked. She swallowed, nodded and looked at Simmons.

“I think we have our answers,” she told the doctor.

Simmons agreed and switched off the machine. Julia rubbed her face with both of her hands, while the machine went off. Then she slowly sat up.

“You did very well,” Daisy complimented her.

Sam just smiled proudly at her.

Then Coulson came into the area. He stood close by Julia. She looked up at him with fatigue in her eyes.

“Thank you for doing this. You are very brave,” he told her. “Do you think you can do one more interview?”

“If it’s necessary for you, yes,” Julia answered.

“I’ll tell her you’re in.”

He turned around and left.

* * *

Natasha opened her eyes. She felt something vibrating in the pocket of her jeans. She took the small device out of it and answered the call.

“Yeah?” she mumbled, groggy.

“Nat, we need to talk. Now,” she heard Clint demand.

“About what?”

“Don’t take her to the compound. She’ll put us all in danger,” Clint warned.

She sighed.

“Friend or not, just don’t do this!” Clint continued.

Without saying anything, Natasha cut off the conversation. She sat up and massaged her forehead with her fingers as a headache emerged. She looked up when she heard footsteps entering the room.

“Feeling better now?” Sam asked.

“Not really.” She looked at the phone in her hand. She sighed. “Clint called. He warned me not to bring Julia to the compound.”

Sam just shook his head with a smile as he took a seat on the edge of the bed.

“You couldn’t change his mind with your charm?” Sam remarked.

Natasha had to chuckle.

“I’m too tired and he’s too stubborn.” Natasha looked at Sam. “Any news?”

This time Sam sighed.

“They have the answers they wanted.” He shook his head. “The Sir’s name is Daniel Whitehall and he manipulated her badly, just like Pierce did.”

Natasha hung her head and mumbled a curse.

“He took her to the Alps,” he continued. “Where it all began for her.”

“Where is she now?” Natasha asked, worried.

“She had to undergo another interrogation.”

Slowly Natasha left the bed.

“We have to go to Fury and convince him we want Julia in the compound,” she announced.

* * *

Clint cursed at his phone after Natasha disconnected. He looked up at Tony who sat next to him.

“They’re sticking to their plan,” Clint said annoyed.

“Well, I have received her words from Fury. We can show them she can’t be trusted,” Tony told as he showed the list of words on his phone. “Once she is back in the compound, I can use FRIDAY to sum up the words since some of them are hard to pronounce.”

Clint agreed to his plan.

* * *

The door opened and she cautiously took a few steps inside. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at the women sitting at the table in front of her. Julia couldn't find the ability to breath. Golden wavy blonde hair, just like her own but shorter. The woman had the same diamond shape face as hers. The woman looked up and saw Julia standing there in fear. Elslander lips curled up into a small smile.

“Hello Julia. Do you remember me?”

Her voice pulled Julia into a memory of her childhood. Julia as a young girl, crying on her bed after being slapped by the man she grew up with. Her mother sneaked into her room and comforted her. She held her daughter in her arms, with her head on her chest so the young girl could listen to her heartbeat. She hummed a song until her child went calm.

As the door clicked shut, Julia snapped back into reality. Her heartbeat pounded in her chest. Her eyes widened as she took a step backwards. Frantically she shook her head. She remembered who this woman was.

“No. No, this can’t be!” She glued herself against the door. “You can’t be her! You’re a fake!”

“I’m not, Julia,” Elslander said as she slowly stood up. “I’m your mother.”

Quickly Julia turned herself around and tried to open the door. It was locked. She started to pound with her fists on it.

“Let me out! Let me out of here!” she screamed.

Julia left some dents in the door, but the door wouldn't open. Elslander went closer to her.

“Julia, listen to me.”

“NO!” Julia yelled and ran away from her.

Julia went to the table and took the chair. She held it in front of her as a shield.

“Prove that you are my mother,” she growled.

“Your name is Juliana Wilhelmina Berger. You were born on December 10th 2001, at 3:41pm,” Elslander stated.

Julia wasn’t impressed by the information while she still stood aimed with the chair. Elslander took a deep breath as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Your father is not Julien Beckers. Your father’s name is Claus Berger. He died at a bank robbery caused by HYDRA when you were a baby.” 

Julia’s face turned into shock as she felt something breaking inside her heart. Suddenly she remembered pictures of the strange man on the wedding pictures and pieces of the puzzle fell into place. She dropped the chair and sank through her legs, holding her hair firmly. She started to scream and cry hysterically. Elslander rushed to her and held her daughter in her arms. Carefully without touching her skin, she moved Julia’s head against her chest and started to rock back and forth. She even started to hum a song.

“And all the winds are like a kiss. And all the years are nemesis,” Elslander sang a song of Enya. “And all the moments fall in mist. And all is dust, remember this.”

She continued humming. Slowly Julia became calm as she heard the woman’s heartbeat and her humming.

“Mom?” Julia sobbed.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Are you…you?”

Elslander sighed relieved.

“Yes, sweetheart. I am here. I’m not dead,” she reassured.

Julia looked up at her, feeling confused.

“But how?”

“It’s a long story. But I guess you deserve the truth,” Elslander answered as she released Julia.

Julia watched her mother as she walked to the table. Elslander picked up the fallen chair and replaced it at the table.

“Have a seat and I’ll tell you everything.”

Over the next twenty minutes, Julia was updated by her mother. Elslander admitted she had been a secret SHIELD agent for Julia’s whole life, and got kidnapped by HYDRA during a mission while she was just pregnant. During the same mission she come in contact with the Terrigan Crystals. She explained how the hallucinations appeared in Julia’s mind, caused by her powers. Also she shared that her death was a set up by SHIELD, and she attended her own funeral in disguise.

Julia took a deep breath.

“So you were at your own funeral?” she asked with a shaky voice.

Elslander nodded.

“He had chosen awful music, huh?” Elslander remarked.

“Yeah,” Julia admitted softly.

“It was more his taste of music than mine.”

A moment of silence as Julia was staring at Whitehall’s picture.

“Did he care about you?” Julia suddenly asked.

“Who?”

Julia tapped on Whitehall’s picture.

“No, it was all tricks,” Elslander admitted.

A tear went over Julia’s cheek as she still gazed at his picture. A small smile on her lips.

“He cared about me. After every punishment, mostly by the Madame, he was there. He caressed me. He gave me food and…”

Elslander took Julia’s gloved hand. The teenager looked at her mother.

“Please, I beg you. Whatever he did to you as kindness and any word he told you, don’t believe it!” the mother warned.

“But he cared about me,” Julia whispered confused. 

Elslander became worried.

* * *

Natasha and Sam were walking through the hallways of The Playground. At the other side of the hall, they saw Agent Coulson walking towards them.

“Hey,” he greeted them. Sam and Natasha greeted him back. “Everything okay?”

“Kind of,” Natasha admitted. “Where’s Julia?”

“She’s meeting her mother,” he answered.

The two Avengers were slightly shocked.

“Her mother?” Sam remarked amazed.

“Yes.”

“Wasn’t Julia an orphan?”

“SHIELD faked her mother’s death in a scene at her mom’s request. Actually she was hoping she would be found by her daughter so we could bring them both into safety. But it was Julien Beckers, Julia’s stepfather, who came home early and the whole plan went wrong,” Coulson explained.

“SHIELD had used the Tetrodotoxin-B drug for this set up?” Natasha asked.

Coulson nodded.

Natasha’s phone went off again. She took it out of her jeans and saw it was a private number. She picked up.

“Hello?” she answered as she walked away from the men.

“Nat, it’s Clint again.”

Natasha sighed.

“Clint please…”

“If you bring her to the compound, there will be consequences,” he warned.

“Is this a threat?” Natasha asked confused, feeling slightly attacked.

Natasha looked at Sam and Coulson who met her gaze.

“Just listen for once for your safety! Accept this as a warning. We have her words. I love you,” Clint said and disconnected.

With shock and confusion on her face she removed the phone from her ear.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked worriedly.

Natasha looked at Coulson.

“Where’s Fury?”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy reading. Please leave a comment/review...

Clint looked at the phone in his hand. He released a sigh as he placed the device back in his jeans. He looked over the city of New York from the roof of the Stark Tower.

“Are you okay, Mr. Barton?” he heard a young teenage boy say.

He looked to his side and saw Peter Parker standing next to him, a small distance away. Clint nodded.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure, Sir?”

“Kid, please. I just made the hardest choice of my life!” he said, annoyed. “How would you feel if you have to treat your best friend for the safety of others?”

Peter shut up for a moment. He knew Julia wasn’t dangerous during college, and if he could believe Wanda, she wasn’t a danger when she met The Avengers either. He collected all his courage.

“Well, wouldn’t it be an idea to bring her into the compound and just see how she is? And when she really is…” He swallowed. “…a danger. Then we can…” His breath hitched a little. “…put her in jail or something?” Peter suggested as he felt his heart breaking.

Clinton shook his head.

“Not going to happen, kid,” Clinton said as he walked away from him.

Peter hung his head slightly, feeling defeated.

* * *

Elslander was still looking worriedly at her daughter, who was gazing at Whitehall’s picture. She licked her lips, as a question was burning her tongue, wondering if it would hurt Julia’s feelings.

“So,” she started, unsure. “Tell me something about The Avengers. Have you met them all?”

Julia shrugged her shoulders.

“No idea how many there are of them,” Julia admitted.

“Can you name some you’ve met and share something about them?”

Memories of the team came calmly into her mind.

“Sam and Natasha, they are here. They’re taking care of me. Sam helped me a lot with making me calm when I had an anxiety or panic attack. Wanda, she’s very nice and has powers as well.”

Julia swallowed and looked at her hands.

Elslander smiled, relieved.

“Have you met more people with special powers?” Elslander asked curiously.

“Yeah, Bruce can change into a green outraged giant when he’s angry. Only Natasha can calm him down and turn him back into human form. Steve could do it once. ”

“It’s nice to see you’re not the only one, huh?”

Julia slowly nodded as she still looked at her hands.

Her mother noticed she got uncomfortable again.

“Have you met Captain America?” Elslander asked.

Julia looked up.

“That’s Steve. He’s great and very caring. Just like…” Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked away again. “Bucky,” she sighed. She fiddled with her fingers. “I…I hurt him. Badly.” 

“Julia,” she heard her mother. She didn’t want to look up but her mother continued. “Whatever you did, it wasn’t your fault. You were triggered by command words of HYDRA. You weren’t yourself.”

“How do you know?” Julia wondered.

“I saw the video of your first interrogation.”

Julia got scared, and her heart pounded in her chest. A tear went down her cheek from her widened eyes. Panic rose in her body.

“They’ve filmed everything?”

The woman nodded. Julia stood up and walked quickly to a corner of the room. She moved her hands through her hair. With her elbows she leaned against the wall and started to sob. Elslander stood up and took her daughter by the shoulders. Slowly, Julia turned around and placed the side of her head on her mom’s chest.

“I’m so ashamed,” the teen sobbed.

“Don’t be,” Elslander hushed her, while she rubbed her daughter’s back.

“Those words. They cause something in my mind. Like electric shocks. And then…” She looked up at her mom. “Then I’m somewhere else. Not knowing what happened.” Julia shook her head. “I’m so scared,” Julia whispered.

“Don’t be scared,” Elslander reassured her. “You’re safe here.”

Suddenly Julia pushed her away.

“No!” Julia yelled angrily.

Elslander looked at her in shock.

“No, I’m not! That one-eyed man has these words. What if he’ll use them against me? Making me a monster just like HYDRA did?”

“Listen to yourself now,” Elslander said as she realized something. Julia became confused. “You just said that HYDRA made you a monster. Whitehall is HYDRA!”

“No, no, no,” Julia rambled as she took a few steps to the side, to back off from her mother. “Whitehall is different. He took care of me after I got hurt by the Madame or anybody.”

“Julia…” Elslander wanted to continue but the teen cut her off.

“He gave me life! He gave me food, drink and shelter! And out of gratitude I respect him by calling him The Sir,” Julia rambled in frustration.

“What about The Avengers? They saved your life as well,” Elslander said. She was dismayed at Julia’s acceptance of an enemy as her benefactor.

“The Avengers saved me from Pierce. The Sir is way different from Pierce,” Julia snarled.

Then she felt her heart breaking. _Bucky_. New tears flowed over Julia’s cheeks. In her mind she saw Bucky suffering and bleeding in the doorway. Her breathing started to speed up and Elslander noticed it.

“Calm down, Julia,”

As she got closer to her daughter, the teenager stepped away from her.

“No, don’t come closer,” Julia stuttered through her rapid breaths.

Suddenly Elslander jumped at her and took Julia’s face in her bare hands. Julia’s powers dragged out Elslander’s energy. Julia clenched her jaw as she felt her body was on fire during the process. She screamed through her gritted teeth. Elslander felt herself getting weaker as she was gasping for air. Memories of Julia’s childhood went through her mind.

At the moment Daisy entered the interrogation room, a blast happened that separated the two family members. Elslander fell on the floor, while Julia got smacked against the wall. She landed with her head hard on the concrete floor and went unconscious.

“Oh my god,” Daisy called out in shock and smacked the red alarm button, that was attached to the wall next to the entrance.

* * *

Coulson, Natasha and Sam sat in a conference room. At the head of the table sat Fury with Hill and May standing behind him.

“You know this girl is a danger for this world,” Fury said in a growl.

“As long as nobody says those words, everything is fine,” Natasha said convinced. “I know you send the words to Stark and Barton. I strongly suggest you not use the words when she’s nearby.”

Fury leaned back in his chair, his hands folded together. For a moment, he was thinking.

“Director,” Coulson called out. Fury looked at him. “With my own observations in mind I truly believe this young lady is no threat. Like Agent Romanoff said, as long as you don’t use the words she’s fine. Also during a previous interrogation it revealed that Whitehall had bargained with her and pulled her into HYDRA.”

“What about her powers?” Fury asked.

“Nothing will happen if you don’t touch her, skin to skin. She knows it as well,” Natasha explained.

“Just to inform you. We have specialized agents here who can teach her to control her powers,” May said.

Sam and Natasha looked at each other. Both were wondering if it was a good idea to let them teach her about her powers.

“Anything else?” Fury asked.

“We want her back in the Avengers compound,” Sam said. “At this moment, Barnes is fighting for his life after being injured during an ambush. Maybe Julia can help us with his recovery. Because of their past they have a strong bond together.”

Suddenly an alarm went off and red lights began flashing. Hill hurried to a screen filled with CCTV images. On the screen she saw two women lying on the floor in the interrogation room. 

“It’s the alarm in the interrogation room,” she told them. “Two women unconscious. Agent Johnson is there already. I’ll send Dr. Simmons to give medical assistance.”

Coulson looked shocked at Sam and Natasha. Suddenly the two Avengers stood up and ran out, followed by Coulson.

* * *

In the interrogation room, Elslander sat up after she landed on the floor. She saw Daisy kneeling next to Julia. Daisy looked at the mother.

“What happened?”

“I forgot about her powers. I touched her. I’m sorry, it’s my fault.”

A few seconds later, Simmons arrived and kneeled next to Daisy. She saw a bruise on Julia’s temple.

Then Julia’s body started to shiver. Simmons laid a gloved hand on Julia’s shoulder to calm her. Julia started to gag a few times and in no time she threw up. Simmons and Daisy laid her on her side and let her puke. With shaky arms Julia pushed herself off the floor and opened her eyes. A moment later she sank as her arms weakened, and she collapsed onto the floor.

In the background Sam, Natasha and Coulson arrived. Coulson saw Elslander looking upset. He went over to her and embraced her to comfort her. Julia’s mother started to cry. Sam and Natasha could only watch the scene from the entrance.

“How many fingers do you see?” Simmons asked as she showed the teen two fingers.

Julia blinked her eyes a few times to sharpen her view.

“Everything is a blur,” she whispered as she stared at the blurry figures in front of her.

With a small flashlight Simmons shone in Julia’s eyes.

“I think she has a concussion. She needs rest.”

Sam went over to them.

“Let me carry her,” he offered.

Without waiting for an answer he placed his arms underneath Julia’s back and legs and lifted her up. They passed by Coulson and Elslander, followed by Daisy and Simmons. Natasha stayed behind.

“Phil? I’m worried about her,” Elslander admitted.

“She’ll be fine, Wilma,” Coulson reassured.

The mother released him and wiped some tears from her eyes.

“No, it’s not that. She…she’s…oh my god, I can’t say it!”

“Say what?” Coulson wondered.

She looked desperate, which made Natasha worry.

“She admires Whitehall. I’ve tried to change her mind but…” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t know what to do!”

“Who’s Whitehall?” Natasha asked.

Elslander and Coulson looked at the former spy.

“One of the most prominent leaders of HYDRA,” Coulson started to explain. “Whitehall is a psychopathic, and downright callous, able to commit horrible and sadistic crimes and actions without remorse.”

“He has no empathy for his victims and even seems to enjoy torturing them,” Elslander added. “And I know, because he did awful things to me in just three days of captivity while I was in the beginning of the first trimester of my pregnancy with Julia.”

Natasha was shocked about this new information. 

After arriving in her room, Sam laid Julia gently in bed. Daisy dimmed the light so it was dark, but bright enough to see anything. Julia fell asleep.

“I’ll keep guarding her,” Daisy offered.

“Make sure you wake her up every hour,” Simmons suggested.

Daisy nodded. Silently Sam and Simmons left them alone, while Daisy took a seat on the couch.

In the hallway, Simmons and Sam sighed.

“She’s so messed up,” Sam admitted. “So traumatized.”

He looked at her through the window and shook his head. Julia was peacefully asleep.

“But so strong.”

Simmons stood next to him.

“If I may believe all these stories, she truly is a fighter,” she said. “With the serum in her system, she’ll be fine within hours.”

* * *

“Agents Elslander, you have become a problem. A problem I have to deal with,” Fury snarled in her face. “Any explanation for your behavior?”

Agent Wilma Elslander stood at ease in front of Director Nick Fury. Her face was relaxed but inside she was worried and scared.

“Sir, she deserved the truth and an explanation about what happened in her past,” she answered after she took a deep breath. “That’s all I can say, Sir.”

Fury looked at Coulson who stood next to Elslander.

“And you…you have disappointed me,” he growled. “That’s unacceptable.”

“I know, Sir.”

Fury shook his head in disbelief.

“Agent Elslander, I’ve decided to transfer you back to Bruges, Belgium. Agent Coulson, you are suspended for 36 hours,” Fury announced.

Elslander’s eyes widened a little as she heard about her transfer. Coulson was calm when he heard his punishment.

“Yes, Sir,” Coulson said in acceptance.

“Can I say goodbye to my daughter?” Elslander suddenly asked.

Fury leaned back in his chair, arms folded over his chest. For a moment he was thinking, leaving her in suspense. He looked at Coulson. Then at Natasha who was standing in the background and back at Elslander.

“You have fifteen minutes to say goodbye to her, agent Elslander. Romanoff, you may take her to the compound but return her here in 24 hours. You have fifteen minutes to leave.”

The three people were dismissed once Fury said his last word.

* * *

She was moaning in her sleep while her hands and arms were twitching. Daisy stood up from the couch and laid a gloved hand on Julia’s shoulder to ease her.

“No, don’t. Don’t do this,” Julia begged in her sleep.

Daisy gently shook her.

“Hey, wake up.”

“Stop, please,” Julia kept begging while still asleep.

“Wake up, Julia,” Daisy said as she kept gently shaking her.

Suddenly in a quick movement, Julia took off a glove and grabbed Daisy’s throat with her bare hand.

“GET OFF ME!!” Julia yelled as she jolted up in her bed.

Julia held Daisy for a few seconds before she opened her eyes. When she noticed she had choked and used her powers on Daisy, she let her go and saw how Daisy fell on her hands and knees. For a moment Julia’s breathing was out of control until she blinked her eyes a few times. She then realized what she had done.

“Oh no,” she mumbled in shock while she got out of bed.

She kneeled next to Daisy.

“I’m so sorry,” Julia apologized.

“It’s okay,” Daisy said as she sat up, while she took her breath. “What were you dreaming of?”

Julia’s eyes widened in fear as she was too anxious to share her nightmare. Then Sam, Natasha, Coulson and her mother busted into her room. Daisy and Julia looked at them in surprise.

“What’s going on?” Daisy asked, in distress.

“I’m sorry. There is no time to explain,” Coulson said.

In the background, Sam collected some items of Julia’s and placed them in a duffle bag.

“How do you feel? Any pain?” Natasha asked, while she looked at Julia.

“I’m fine. I…” She glanced at Daisy. “I touched her…by accident.”

“Good,” Natasha suddenly said, which made Julia confused. “We have to go. Now.”

“Tell me what’s going on,” she asked scared.

“We will explain while we go to the QuinJet,” Sam said. He closed the bag and slung it over his shoulder. 

All of them rushed out of the room. They quickly walked through the hallways.

“Where are we going?” Julia asked, slightly panicked.

“Back to the compound,” Natasha answered.

Suddenly Julia stood still. Her heart pounded faster. That meant she would see….Bucky?

“We have no time, Julia. The Jet leaves in five minutes,” Natasha said as she noticed the teen standing still.

Julia nodded and jogged along to keep them on track.

In the hangar there were two QuinJets waiting. Both of the Jets had their tailgates open. Julia gazed with wide eyes at the giant planes. She looked at her mother.

“Are you going with us?” Julia asked her.

Tears welled up in her mother’s eyes as she shook her head.

“I’ve made mistakes. They’ve sent me back to Belgium.”

“Will I ever see you again?” Julia wondered.

Elslander embraced her daughter.

“No. I’m sorry,” the mother whispered in a sob.

Julia was fighting against her tears. The engines of the Jets turned on.

“I’m sorry. We have to go now,” Coulson said.

“No wait! I need something to know first!” Julia panicked as she let go her mother. “Am I adopted?”

Elslander looked confused.

“I know you’ve said you were pregnant with me, and told me the date and time of birth, but this is what’s going through my mind right now.”

“No, you’re not. Who said this?” Elslander asked, shocked.

“It was Alexander Pierce,” Sam explained from the tailgate. “But he’s dead now so don’t worry. He won’t come and get you anymore.”

A gentle hand on Julia’s shoulder. She looked around and saw Natasha, who gestured for her to come along. Then Julia walked up the tailgate, following the two Avengers. She looked over her shoulder before she entered and waved a little to the SHIELD agents. Daisy waved back at her. When she was inside, the tailgate closed.

“She has a good heart,” Coulson said as he looked proudly at Elslander.

A smile on her lips, also feeling proud.

“I know.”

Inside the QuinJet Maria Hill was waiting for them. Julia stood still in front of her.

“For our safety protocol we have to handcuff and blindfold you during the flight,” Hill informed her.

Soon after she finished her sentence, a SHIELD agent went behind Julia, took her gloved hands and cuffed them. Fear built up in her body. She looked to her side and saw Natasha and Sam also had been cuffed and blindfolded. Before she knew it, a dark blue cotton blindfold covered her eyes.

In the other Jet, Elslander’s eyes got covered by a dark blue blindfold. She was guided to a seat and sat down. Behind the blindfold she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

* * *

Whitehall looked out of the window in his office of the HYDRA facility in Delaware, while he took a sip of his red wine. When he was done gazing he turned around. His lips curved into a smile.

“Wilma, such a delight to see you after so many years.”

Her face didn’t show any sign of happiness. Whitehall stepped closer to her.

“You have such a wonderful daughter. You look so much alike.” He took a sip of his wine. “I would love to meet her again.”

“You’ll never see her again,” Elslander growled at him.

Whitehall set down his glass on his desk.

“Oh, I will. No matter how. My team of wonderful people with extraordinary powers will search for her and bring her here. She is a valued person to HYDRA,” Whitehall told.

“If I ever get you in my hands, I will…” Elslander snarled but got cut off.

“Now, now. You have developed a temper in all those years.”

“Who are you talking to?” He suddenly heard another feminine voice.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Madame HYDRA standing in his office. She was looking worriedly at him. Then he returned to Elslander but she was now gone.

“Are you hallucinating, Daniel?” the Madame asked slightly worried.

Whitehall was still staring at the place where Elslander stood.

“Such a remarkable trick.”

* * *

Behind the blindfold Elslander’s eyes snapped open as she felt the Jet shaking. She sensed the Jet was still flying, though. She guessed it was just some turbulence. 

* * *

Julia was breathing rapidly through her nose as she felt the Jet shaking.

“Slow down your breathing, Julia. Or else you’ll be hyperventilating,” Sam advised.

She took a deep breath, held it for three seconds and exhaled through her mouth. She did that three times.

“I hear the engines. I can hear breathing. I see darkness,” she summed up her situation, to calm herself down.

She took another slow breath through her nose.

“I smell Sam’s aftershave.”

A smile appeared on Sam’s lips.

“You’re doing great, Julia.”

She summarized more about what she could hear, feel and smell. After a minute the turbulence stopped and Julia’s tension calmed down another minute later.

“Are we still flying?” she asked.

“Yes, we are,” Hill answered who sat across them.

“Any indication how long this will take?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t give you that info because of our safety protocol.”

Julia sighed and decided it was better to wait till the Jet arrived at their destination.

* * *

Wanda was reading in her room. She looked around when an unpleasant feeling occurred in her guts. Although she didn't see anyone, the feeling stayed, growing stronger.

* * *

Lex was once again waiting in the forest until his friend, Dave, returned from his search inside the Avengers compound. He looked up as his friend appeared from his invisibility.

“Well?”

Dave sighed and shook his head. Then they heard a roaring sound from the sky. They looked up into the sky and saw a QuinJet flying by. Lex took off his glasses to have a look inside the Jet with his X-ray vision. He saw five skeletons and…one Adamantium skeleton.

“Here comes the prize,” he said with a smile as he put his glasses back on and looked at Dave. “Once darkness sets in we can go for the bait.”

“I can paralyze her while being invincible,” Dave suggested as he showed a small remote control. “Once she’s unable to move I can trigger her.”

“Good idea,” Lex agreed with a smirk on his face.


	14. Chapter 14

Julia felt like the Jet hit something. Anxiety rose in her body, not knowing exactly what was happening.

“We have just reached our destination,” she heard Hill announce.

A few seconds later, somebody took off Julia’s blindfold. She had to blink a few times to sharpen her view, while she got freed from the cuffs. She looked to her left and saw Sam and Natasha being freed as well. She rubbed her wrists as she stood up. Then the tailgate opened and a bright light appeared. It hurt her eyes and Julia held her hand over her eyes to clear her view. She could see three silhouettes. Sam was the first to leave the Jet, followed by Natasha. Slowly Julia took her first steps towards the three people as she saw them being hugged by Sam and Natasha.

Wanda was the first to notice her. Almost in slow-motion they stepped towards each other. Wanda reached out her arms. With shaking hands Julia took Wanda’s hands. Then Wanda pulled her into a hug as they started to cry.

“So happy to see you,” Wanda sobbed. “We were so worried about you.”

Tears welled up in Julia’s eyes when she heard Wanda saying they missed her. But she didn’t know what to say. Over Wanda’s shoulder she could see Bruce walking up to them. Julia released Wanda and went to embrace Bruce. A few seconds later he released her and looked at her. He could see the weight she had lost in her face, her pale skin and the dark circles under her eyes, caused by fatigue.

“My god,” he whispered as he looked at her from top to toe. “What did they do to you?”

“Too much,” Wanda answered, with a trembling voice.

Julia looked at her with begging eyes as she knew Wanda had read her mind. Wanda just shook her head slightly at her as a promise not to share her traumas without her permission.

“You can find it all in here,” Sam answered, as he gave Bruce Julia’s file from SHIELD.

Bruce took the copy of the file in his hand.

“Thank you. I’ll read this right away,” he said.

He glanced at Julia.

“It’s good to see you.”

Then he left the group.

Julia looked at Scott and wondered if she met him before. He walked up closer to her and gave her a little wave.

“Hi, I’m Scott. I’m new here,” he introduced himself.

She smiled with relief at the new person.

“I’m Julia,” she said shyly.

“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard great stories about you.”

Scott’s comment made Julia even more shy. Then they were interrupted by a growling sound in her stomach.

“You must be hungry. Come, let’s eat,” Natasha suggested.

“Before you get your food, I advise you not to leave this place,” Hill announced from the tailgate. “We will be back within 24 hours. If anything happens, please contact us.”

Julia nodded at her. Hill went back into the Jet and the tailgate closed. The engine started to run outside the hangar.

The Avengers entered deeper into the compound, followed by Julia. Wanda looked over her shoulder into the forest. The strange feeling in her guts was still there.

* * *

Steve still sat at Bucky’s side, waiting eagerly for him to wake up. He held Bucky’s hand gently as he stared at his peaceful looking face. Bruce hadn’t removed the breathing tube yet. He heard footsteps, looked up at the entrance, and saw Sam walking through the doorway.

“Julia’s here,” he said as he went closer to Bucky’s bed. “Safe and sound.”

Steve sighed, relieved.

“But she looks, and is, very vulnerable,” Sam added as he looked at Bucky.

“Where is she now?”

“In the kitchen area. She was hungry.” A mournful expression covered Sam’s face. “She looks emaciated, Steve. It’s like HYDRA didn’t feed her properly.”

Steve felt sad, and looked back at Bucky.

“Can you stay with him? I want to see her,” Steve asked.

“Sure.”

Before they exchanged places, Steve gently squeezed Bucky’s hand. With a pounding heart he left the room.

* * *

Julia’s eyes widened as she saw the enormous space of the compound’s kitchen area. She made a circle in the middle of the area as she gazed with open mouth. She saw the most modern kitchen equipment, a stove with six gas burners and a giant oven. In the middle of the kitchen was an island with barstools around it.

“This is huge,” she said amazed.

“Well, you kind of need this much space when you live here with seven people,” Scott said.

Julia took a seat on one of the barstools while Scott opened the giant refrigerator.

“What do you want to eat? I see leftover pancakes from this morning. I can bake off some cinnamon rolls. We also have mango, watermelon and…”

“Watermelon,” Julia snapped. Scott looked slightly shocked at her. “Please,” Julia added softly, with a guilty tone in her voice.

Scott took out the half watermelon and cut off a giant slice. He placed it on a plate and gave it to her. Julia took it in her hands and bit off a small bite. The soft and juicy fruit tasted good and she let it show by leaning her head back while she chewed on the piece.

“Would you like to eat anything else?” Scott asked.

Julia shook her head after she shoved another piece into her mouth.

“Are you sure? Cause you look very starved,” he remarked, worried.

Julia became insecure after his remark. She shoved her plate away. Scared to eat further as she got nervous. Her hands started to tremble and Wanda took them in hers. Wanda’s hands started to glow red. Slowly the nervousness in Julia’s body faded away.

“He doesn’t mean any harm, Julia. He’s worried about you,” Wanda reassured.

Julia huffed and gave a smile.

“Funny. He doesn’t even know me,” she said as she looked away from Wanda.

“I feel anxiety and stress gives you a hard time eating, but give it a try,” Wanda, concerned, advised her.

Julia took back the plate and bit off a piece of the fruit. Slowly she was chewing on it and swallowed it without choking. She took another bite. From a distance Natasha watched her and felt happy she could eat something.

“You want to try something else to eat?” Wanda asked.

“I want to try some pancakes,” Julia said with doubt in her voice.

Scott dug into the fridge again and took out the plate with pancakes. He placed them in the microwave to warm them up.

In the meantime, Julia was done eating the watermelon. She released a deep breath.

“Well done,” Wanda almost cheered, with a smile.

Julia stared at her plate, with the peel of the watermelon. A minute later, Scott shoved the plate with the pancakes towards Julia. She gazed at it and saw the butter dripping from it. With a trembling hand she picked up the fork. She touched the pancakes a few times with it. Wanda felt the tension in her body and Scott couldn’t do anything but stare at her. Suddenly Julia roughly placed down the fork.

“I can’t. I’m sorry,” she apologized.

She shoved away the plate. Wanda understood her action and let it be.

Natasha sighed as she thought about the fight between her and Julia. Something bothered her. She entered the kitchen area and stopped close by Julia.

“Julia, I’m sorry but I want to ask you something,” Natasha said. Julia gazed away from the plate and looked at Natasha. “The fighting skills you have. Where did you learn them?”

Julia narrowed her eyes slightly as she remembered the green haired woman, yelling commands during her training. She gave Natasha a long look.

“The Madame. She taught me,” Julia answered.

“Madame who?”

Julia shrugged her shoulders, not knowing the answer. Then she looked at the red haired woman.

“Something wrong?” the teenager asked.

“When I was just a little girl, I was in a program called The Red Room. During that program they taught us hand to hand combat training, acrobatics, weapons training, and tactical skills,” Natasha shared. “At the end they had a graduation ceremony. They would sterilize you.” 

Julia’s eyes widened, in a combination of fear and shock. ‘Did this really happen to her?’

“You fight exactly the way I’ve been taught, and I’m scared this ceremony happened to you too.”

“I can’t remember a ceremony,” Julia stuttered as she shook her head.

Natasha sighed, feeling lost.

“Where’s Steve?” Julia mumbled quickly, before the uneasy subject started again.

“Right here.”

Quickly Julia glanced up at the voice and saw Steve standing a few feet away from her. She slid off from the barstool but kept standing in her place. Steve went closer to her. Her breath started to choke as guilt slammed into her body. She had to hold tight onto the island or else she would fall down from anxiety. Steve laid a hand on her shoulder. Tears welled up in her eyes, and before she knew it her forehead was on his chest. He embraced her.

“I’m so sorry,” Julia sobbed.

“It’s not your fault,” Steve sighed. Gently he pushed her away to have a better look at her. “My God, what did they do to you?”

More tears came in her eyes as she hid her face in her hands. Steve embraced her again.

“You’ll be okay. You’re here now,” Steve hushed her.

“I can’t stay,” Julia mumbled in a sob. “They’ll pick me up tomorrow and bring me back to their place.”

Steve sighed remorseful. Julia looked up to meet his eyes.

“Bucky, is he…?”

“He’s alive. Don’t worry,” Steve replied.

Julia took a trembling breath, relieved to hear he was alive.

“Can I see him?” she asked, scared.

Steve looked into her eyes.

“Are you sure?” he asked worriedly.

Julia nodded. There was a moment of hesitation inside Steve’s guts. Then he nodded as a sign it was okay.

* * *

Sam was reading a magazine, with the music of Billie Holiday on in the background. He looked up as he heard a few footsteps. In the entrance he saw Steve and a scared looking Julia. Sam put down the magazine and went over to the duo. Julia was staring at Bucky’s body when he stopped in front of her.

“Can you hear the bleeps?” Sam asked as he pointed a finger towards the ceiling.

Julia listened to the sound, still staring at Bucky in fear. She nodded.

“That’s a sign he’s still alive. You didn’t kill him,” Sam reassured her.

She took a deep trembling breath, but the tension is still in her body.

“Want to come closer?”

She took a deep shaky breath. Once again, Julia nodded.

Sam took her gloved hand and stood next to her.

“We go closer when you’re ready. Okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered, because her voice was shaky.

A moment later she took the first step. Another step followed and Sam followed her carefully. Her breath started to hitch up as the heart monitor made a double bleep. Suddenly she stopped.

Memories were flashing inside Julia’s mind. She could see her dead mother laying in the bed, instead of Bucky.

Steve placed his hands on her shoulders, to soothe her. Sam could feel in her hand she tensed up. Suddenly she let go Sam, turned around, pushed Steve aside and ran out of the room. Steve wanted to chase her but Sam stopped him.

“Let her breathe for a moment,” he advised.

Julia was running through the hallway of the compound’s medical floor. In the distance she noticed the toilets. She ran into one, locked the door and sank to the ground. She was still breathing fast and heavy as she burst into crying. Thighs against her chest and her head laid on her knees. Memories of her hurting Bucky went through her mind. She grasped her hair.

“Let it stop, let it stop,” she begged to herself, but it didn’t help.

Suddenly she screamed in mental agony and as she hit the floor with her fists, leaving cracks in the tiles. Seconds later she tried to take control over her sobbing breath as she stared at the door. She saw the doorknob glowing red, and moving. Slowly the door opened and she saw Wanda and Sam with worried faces. Sam noticed the cracks in tiles around her, and wondered if she had done that. Julia hid her face in her knees in shame.

“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I didn’t mean to freak out.”

Wanda sat next to her.

“It’s okay. It is hard to see him like that,” Wanda consoled her.

Julia looked at Sam as tears streaked down her cheeks. She tried to calm down.

“I want to try it again,” she stuttered.

“Are you sure about that?” Sam replied, worried. Julia nodded. “Okay. Let’s go slow and steady.”

Steve stood at the side of Bucky’s bed, looking at his best friend. He looked up and saw Julia standing in the entrance again, with Sam and Wanda behind her. Julia took a few steps into the room while she controlled her breath. This time she came closer without having an anxiety or panic attack but was still tense. Before she knew it she stood next to his bed. She laid a hand on his metal shoulder as she fought against her tears.

“Can I be alone with him. please?” she stuttered.

Steve walked over to her and stood next to her.

“Are you sure about this?”

His voice was calm and soothing.

Julia nodded while gazing at Bucky. Steve looked questioned at Sam and Wanda. Wanda nodded while Sam was still in doubt about his answer.

“That’s okay,” Steve gave in. “Just call us when you need us. We’ll be close by.”

Julia nodded again as she still stared at Bucky, who was peacefully asleep. The three Avengers left the room. They walked towards a waiting area in the back of the hallway.

“I hope she knows what she’s doing,” Steve said worriedly. He shoved his hands in his sweatpants while walking.

“I have a good feeling about this,” Wanda remarked.

* * *

Julia stood still for a moment. She noticed the chair at the other side of the bed. Slowly she walked over to it as she supported herself on the bedframe. With her gaze on Bucky, she took a seat. She took a deep breath, and had the feeling there was something stuck in her throat. Tears were burning her eyes. Then she lost her fight against them and started crying as she laid her forehead on his chest.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she sobbed. She looked up. “The Madame, she said words. Russian words and then…I just didn’t know what I did.”

She touched his forehead with her gloved hand.

“Please forgive me. Please,” she begged. “Please, please.”

A moment of silence. All she heard was the bleeping heart monitor. She gazed mesmerized at his face. Slowly she moved forward and….kissed the side of his forehead. A shock appeared which cause a massive stab of pain in Julia’s head. She grabbed her head as memories of the attack between her and Bucky flashed through her mind. She gritted her teeth as the pain grew. She stood up from her seat to walk away but after a few steps she sank down as her legs grew weak. For a moment she lay on the ground, fighting against her mental pain. In the background the bleeping changed into a long flat beep. She started to scream out her agony.


	15. Chapter 15

Steve took his hot drink out of the coffee machine. He looked up as he saw Bruce approaching. The doctor looked at the Captain and just shook his head.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked.

“I just read her file. It’s much, more worse than I expected,” Bruce explained as he gave Steve Julia’s file. “Super Soldier Serum, Adamantium skeleton, Inhuman DNA. Also I’ve read about GH.325.”

Steve looked confused as he listened while flipping some pages.

“What’s GH.325?”

“Alien DNA that brought her back to life,” Sam explained out of the blue.

“What?” Steve snapped as he looked at Sam.

“Oh my God,” Wanda gasped as she covered her mouth.

Suddenly they heard Julia screaming. The Avengers ran back to Bucky’s room. In the hallway Steve heard a long beep.

“No, no, no!!” he panicked.

They rushed into the room and Steve saw an empty bed, with the breathing tube and the sensor stickers from Bucky’s chest in the middle of it

“Bucky?” He called out for his friend.

“Down here,” he heard Bucky’s husky voice.

Steve fastened to the end of the bed and saw Bucky sitting on the floor with a trembling Julia in his arms.

“Can I have some water?” Bucky asked.

Steve just froze at the sight, but Wanda took action and filled a glass of water from the tap in the room. She gave it to Bucky. Julia was in a dissociative state of mind. She was shaking like a leaf as Bucky set the glass to her lips and tipped it gently. After the water touched her lips, she woke up and started to drink a little bit. With shaky hands she took the glass.

“You okay now?” Bucky asked, worried.

Julia nodded and mouthed a thank you.

“What happened?” Bruce asked.

“I just woke up and saw her on the ground screaming,” Bucky explained as he looked at Julia, who controlled her breathing.

Steve looked in Bucky’s bed and saw the breathing tube lying there. He took it in his hand. Bucky saw him examining the object.

“We really needed that thing in the 40’s just for your asthma,” Bucky chuckled.

“You ripped this out of your throat?” Bruce exclaimed in amazement.

“Yup.”

Bruce pinched his nose bridge.

“You could damage your trachea, Bucky. If you didn’t do it with gentle care.”

“Nah, it went fine. Most important now is…” he looked back at Julia again. “…is her.”

With his metal hand he moved a lock of hair out of her face and moved it behind her ear. He could feel she got more relaxed in his hold.

“I’m sorry. For what I did to you,” she apologized softly, voice still shaky.

“Don’t be. You were not in your right mind.”

“Those damn words,” she sighed silently. “HYDRA created them and now SHIELD has them too.”

That broke Bucky’s heart. He knew how it is to have trigger words that will take over control used against him. He looked at his fellow Avengers.

“We need to bring her to Wakanda.”

“Not going to happen,” Sam said, as he leaned in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. “SHIELD wants her back within less than 20 hours.”

Bucky hung his head as he mumbled a curse. He felt a gloved hand on his jaw that made him moved sideways. They looked into each other’s eyes. Bucky could see Julia was tired, like she hadn’t slept for days. It worried him but still he put on a smile on his face.

“You’re tired?” he asked her. She just nodded. “You can sleep in my room. I even have a little surprise there.”

Julia looked worriedly at her hero.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Bruce and Steve will take care of me. Take some rest.”

Bucky slowly released Julia when Steve approached them. Wanda, who was sitting close to them, reached out her hand and Julia took it. She pulled herself up. Julia looked behind her when Steve helped Bucky to stand up. Wanda and Sam with Julia in their middle, left the room while Bruce helped Steve to get Bucky back into bed. Bucky looked over his shoulder as he sat on the bed and saw them disappearing into the hallway. Suddenly he groaned and winced in pain as he laid a hand on the middle of his chest.

“Bucky? Are you okay?” Steve asked worried.

“No, it’s pain,” Bucky moaned as he laid back in his bed with the help of Bruce. “Holy cow,” he sighed with his eyes closed. After a moment he opened them again. “She looks awful,” he confessed.

“We know,” Steve admitted.

“What the hell did they do to her?”

“Too much to tell,” Bruce replied. He could see from Bucky’s face he was in pain. “I’ll give you a painkiller.”

He walked to the water tap and unlocked the cabinet above it to grab out some medication. In the meantime Bucky looked at Steve.

“How did you find her?”

“She was reported as a Jane Doe on the news, a day after the attack. Sam and Natasha went to the hospital, but were too late. SHIELD already picked her up,” Steve explained. “Fury kept her imprisoned because of her actions inside HYDRA. Natasha was able to change their mind and brought her here.”

Bucky shook his head and stared at the ceiling.

“She really needs to go to Wakanda. Shuri can remove the words from her mind, like she did with me.” He took a deep breath. “HYDRA placed my words back in my mind so I have to go there as well. Which will be good as I can support Julia when she’s scared.”

Steve nodded as he agreed with his best friend. Then Bruce came back with an injection and jabbed it in Bucky’s flesh shoulder.

“This will work in five minutes. I’ll go to attend Julia,” Bruce announced and left the room.

In the hallway Bruce met Natasha. There was panic on her face.

“What’s wrong, Nat?”

“I need you to do something for me. Julia’s fighting style reminded me of the Red Room,” Natasha explained nervously. “I’m scared they’ve done the graduation ritual.”

Bruce laid his hands on her shoulders.

“Okay, calm down. At this moment she isn’t stable enough for us to investigate this,” he explained. “We’ll have to wait till tomorrow.”

With panic still in her eyes, Natasha nodded.

“Get some sleep. You need it,” Bruce told her.

Natasha nodded again and went to her room.

* * *

Julia’s gaze was on the floor as they entered Bucky’s room. Wanda led her to his bed and let her sit down. The softness of the mattress and blankets ‘woke’ her up. She looked around in Bucky’s room. Then she noticed the Winnie the Pooh bear on the nightstand. Underneath it was her note:

_Your name is Julia Berger._

_You have the power to absorb life from people by your hands, but if you hold them too long, life will leave their body and they will die while you live. You are here to be trained to be a Winter Soldier._

_Hold on…_

Sam noticed her reading the note.

“This isn’t HYDRA. You’re safe here.” Sam reassured. “He kept your note to remember you.”

Julia took the stuffed animal in her hands and hugged it with closed eyes.

“I can remember when I wrote it,” she whispered. She looked at Sam. “Thank you for helping me.”

He smiled at her.

“You’re welcome,” he said in a low voice. “Bucky hoped you’ll like the bear. He won it for you at a funfair.”

“It’s very nice and soft,” Julia smiled and hugged it tighter.

“Go to sleep,” Wanda suggested. “You need it.”

Julia nodded and laid down with the bear still in her arms. Wanda tucked her in. Julia went to sleep within seconds. Quietly they left the room. In the hallway they met Bruce.

“She’s asleep,” Sam told him.

“That’s good. I want to investigate her the next morning,” Bruce said. “I guess we all need sleep. It’s been...” He sighed. “It’s been a hard day for all of us.”

Wanda and Sam could only agree with him. Then they split up and went to their own room.

* * *

Tony Stark was cleaning his suits in his lab. The music of Pearl Jam filled the area. He looked at them after he was finished and smiled at all the blinking Iron Mans.

“Okay, I have the complete list of all the exhibitions and presenters,” Pepper Potts announced as she entered the lab. “I’m heading to Dover, Delaware in an hour for a meeting with a Mr. Werner Reinhardt about presenting a Particle Infusion Chamber to create military soldiers. He is determined to attend but I don’t know if there is enough room in the program for him.”

“Attend where?” Tony asked, confused.

Pepper stood still behind Tony, sighing as she couldn’t believe what she just heard.

“You have a Stark Expo next weekend. We’ve been working on this for six months now.”

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Shit, I forgot.”

In the background he heard the music fading out.

“Sir, Agent Coulson is here,” FRIDAY announced.

Tony frowned with his eyebrows.

“What is he doing here?” he asked curiously as he gazed at Pepper.

Pepper just shrugged her shoulders, not knowing the answer.

“He wanted to speak to you, Sir.”

“Okay. Let him in,” Tony said as he walked to his coffee machine.

The door of the lab opened and Agent Coulson walked in.

“Phil! How are you?” Pepper greeted him enthusiastically. She looked him up and down from head to toe. “You look great.”

“I’m doing well. Thank you.”

“Would you like to have a coffee?” Tony greeted Coulson, as he poured a mug of coffee, with his back to the entrance.

He turned around and saw Coulson in a black polo shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers instead of his dark business suit. It confused him.

“We need to talk. I won’t be here for long,” Coulson announced.

“Okay, I’ll leave you two alone,” Pepper said, kissed Tony on the cheek. “I’ll meet you in the bedroom.” She left the lab.

Tony took a sip of his coffee and leant against his desk.

“Okay. What happened?” Coulson opened his mouth to answer but Tony interrupted him. “By the way, how’s the Living Dead girl?” Coulson was puzzled. “HYDRA-girl?”

“Oh, I bet she is in the Avengers compound right now.”

Tony spat out his coffee.

“WHAT?”

“It was a request of Ms. Romanoff and Mr. Wilson and Director Fury gave permission. She’s there for 24 hours.” Coulson glanced at his watch. “And she has 17 hours remaining before returning to the SHIELD facility.”

Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, not believing what he heard.

“They’re making a huge mistake,” he declared, annoyed.

“That girl has no evil potential.”

“How do you know?” Tony snapped as he released his nose.

“We have evaluated her. She’s clearly scared about HYDRA. I can tell you because I have seen it all,” Coulson explained.

Tony walked restlessly through his lab. In front of his suits he stopped and placed his hands on his hips.

“You know…SHIELD has brought us all into danger now.” He turned around to face Coulson. “HYDRA will come after her and you know they have no mercy.”

“Don’t worry. We know what we’re doing, so do the Avengers,” Coulson said, to calm him down.

Tony was stunned.

“No you don’t, and neither do they,” he sounded panicked, with a trembling voice, as he shook his head. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Coulson just smiled at him.

“Then we don’t know. Also I suggest you not use her words in any case.” They stared at each other for a moment. Tony was still in shock. “I had better be going, to enjoy my spare time before I have to get back to work,” Coulson continued and walked back to the corridor.

Tony blinked confused.

“Wait! Spare time? You have spare time?”

Coulson looked over his shoulder and nodded.

“How did you get that?”

Coulson thought for a few seconds.

“Mistakes,” he then answered and left, leaving Tony behind, utterly confused.

The corridor closed and Tony took a deep breath, fighting against a panic attack. He sat down behind his desk.

“FRIDAY, call Barton for me.”

“Yes, sir.”

A moment later, Clint’s voice filled the lab.

“Yo, what’s up?”

“Get your special arrows ready, Legolas. The zombie apocalypse just got started.”

* * *

Dr. Bruce Banner was digitizing Julia’s hospital file. While he was typing, a video call came on the line. He wondered who it could be as he answered the call. The image of a smiling Jemma Simmons appeared on screen.

“Good evening, Dr. Banner. I saw you were online. I hope I didn’t disturb you,” Simmons greeted him with her sweet smile and British accent.

“Oh no, you didn’t. I was working on her medical file. How are you?”

“I’m doing very well, thank you. I am wondering, how is Julia doing? Was her journey okay?”

Bruce sighed and took off his glasses to rub his eyes. Simmons looked at him worriedly as she waited for the answer.

“She is doing okay given the circumstances. We have noticed that HYDRA traumatized her badly.” He cleared his throat as he set his glasses back on his nose. “She’s even worse than when we met her before.”

Simmons nodded.

“I understand. We have interviewed her a few times and even her mother…”

“Wait! Her mother?” Bruce cut her off in confusion.

“Yes. They have spoken to each other. I have investigated the images from their interview and we are afraid she was developing the Stockholm Syndrome. She can act very protective about Daniel Whitehall, one of HYDRA’s powerful men.”

“Oh my God,” Bruce whispered in shock.

* * *

In the middle of the night, somebody knocked on his door. With sleepy eyes he opened it.

“Hey Wanda, what’s wrong?” Scott asked as he rubbed in his eyes.

“The ghost. It’s here again and I can feel it very close by.”

  
  



	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!! MENTIONS OF RAPE!!

Julia jolted awake from a nightmare. When she noticed her fast breathing, she tried to calm down by recognizing certain smells and noises. She looked around the room, it was dark. The only light that shone through the window was from the security floods outside. 

Bile came up her throat as she saw the old fashioned furniture by the glimmer of light. It looked familiar from an area inside HYDRA, but she knew she was safe in the compound of The Avengers. Next to her she saw the stuffed Winnie the Pooh. She held it close as she left the bed. Hugging the bear relaxed her. The bear smelled like Bucky’s aftershave, a different brand to the one that Sam used. A small distance away she saw a desk with a few framed pictures on it. 

Slowly she got out of bed and walked to the desk. She turned on the desk lamp and looked at the framed pictures. One of them was with a group of soldiers. She picked up the frame to have a better look. Her finger trailed over the second man on the right.

_‘Is he….Bucky?’_ she thought.

She carefully placed the frame back, and saw another familiar picture. It was of a young blond boy and a brunet boy. She saw this picture somewhere else before but can’t remember where. Suddenly she heard a click and turned around. An armchair was moving towards the door, and it blocked it. Her eyes widened in fear. She made a move to run away but suddenly her body cramped and she fell flat on the floor, dropping the bear. A blond man appeared slowly next to her. It was the guy from her nightmare.

“Well, hello there,” he greeted her with a grin as he showed her a one-button-remote, that kept her under control. “Good to see you, you lucky bitch.”

He looked around the room.

“Wow. I see this person has an old fashioned taste in furniture.”

Dave looked at the desk. He huffed a chuckle as he picked up one of the pictures in his hand.

“That’s funny,” he said as he showed Julia the picture. “See the guy with the big mustache? That’s my grandpa.” He threw the picture back on the desk. “He tried to fight HYDRA during the war but HYDRA caught them. Been rescued by Captain America. But guess what? Nowadays, you can’t escape HYDRA. Never!”

He knelt next to Julia, who still laid cramped on the floor. He grabbed the sleeve of her shirt and ripped it open to reveal her hexagon tattoo.

“This is a sign that you’re the property of HYDRA.”

His hand went into the back pocket of his jeans and took out a small blue notebook with a white hexagon on the cover. With one hand, he opened it.

“Zhelaniye. Chetvertyy.”

A sharp pain emerged in her head. She squeezed her eyes closed and clenched her jaw.

“Bol. Otorvannost.”

Julia tried to gasp for air as every muscle in her body was tensed severely. Her nails grasped the carpet, leaving shreds as she balled a fist.

“Doma. Voz…”

Suddenly the door blazed red and flew together with the armchair through the room. Dave quickly turned invisible.

Wanda and Scott rushed over to Julia, who was still in a cramp. They knelt next to her, becoming worried about her situation.

“Is she having a seizure?” Scott wondered.

“No, it’s not a seizure,” Wanda answered.

Just in case, Scott gently rolled her onto her side. A moment later Sam arrived.

“Julia, talk to us,” Sam said, worried, as he knelt next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“H…” Julia tried to talk but her jaw was too cramped to move. “HY…”

Wanda almost got overwhelmed by the feelings in her guts as she got to her feet. She closed her eyes and balled her fists, which were blazing bright red. She raised up her fist and suddenly stretched her arm sideways. A red hex bolt appeared on the wall. A male scream followed, and Dave appeared behind the hex bolt. He dropped the remote control.

Julia suddenly went limp and gasped for air.

“What’s going on here?” Sam called out as he looked over his shoulder. “Who are you?” he asked, when he saw Dave being struck by Wanda’s powers.

Wanda approached Dave and moved her face closely to his. She reads his mind.

“You’ve molested her,” she hissed in anger. “And you’ll do it again if you have the chance.”

Dave just grinned, saying nothing. Wanda held him against the wall with hex bolts restraining his hands and feet.

Sam felt a hand on his arms. He looked down at Julia.

“He’s HYDRA,” she whispered in pain.

Sam’s face turned to anger, knowing the organization is here to kidnap her. He stood up and walked to Dave.

“What do you want from her?” he growled at him.

“To finish Project Destroyer of Lives and to please Daniel Whitehall. He promised us a great reward when we bring her back,” Dave said, all with a grin on his face.

“The Sir?” she said softly and amazed, while she slowly sat up.

Dave heard her whisper and glanced at her.

“Yeah, the great man misses you.”

Julia’s heart started to beat faster, and she got weird feelings in her stomach. Memories of episodes between them flashed through her mind. The time he gave her broth after 

she had been tortured by Madame HYDRA, how he cupped her face with gentle gloved hands as he spoke to her.

_‘He misses me_ ,’ Julia thought.

“And what happens if we don’t surrender her?” Sam asked, getting closer to him.

Dave chuckled, amused.

“Then this place will blow!”

Julia was snapped out of her daydream by Dave’s loud voice. Sam just stared at him as anger boiled in his veins.

“Go on. Open up my jacket and you’ll see. I don’t lie,” Dave invited.

Slowly Sam opened Dave’s jacket. After he opened it he saw a bomb vest. His eyes widened in shock and took a step backwards. Even Wanda took one step back but kept the man under control with her powers.

“So…” Dave continued. “You better give the girl to me and this place will stay in one piece.”

Sam and Wanda glanced at each other, considering what to do.

In the background Julia tried to stand up but her legs sank under her. She grunted as she fell on the floor.

“Hey, don’t try to stand up. You’re hurt,” Scott advised.

“No. I have to go with him,” Julia stuttered in a mumble, still in pain, but she tried to stand up again. “For the safety of everybody.”

“Scott, bring her to the medical suite,” Sam ordered.

Scott nodded firmly and lifted Julia up in bridal style.

“No,” Julia groaned but didn’t fight back.

“Yes, we’re leaving,” Scott remarked back and left the room with her in his arms.

“I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU!!” Dave yelled at Julia and in one movement, he pulled out a pin from his vest with his teeth.

Wanda kept the blast contained around Dave who grimaced in agony. With her powers, she lifted him into the air and threw him out of the window. Outside, the bomb vest exploded. Sam and Wanda ducked when the explosion happened, as pieces of glass flew towards them. After it was clear, Wanda noticed the small remote control and picked it up. Sam slowly walked to the broken window and looked down at the horrific sight.

“We need to go to Steve.”

* * *

Lex ran back into the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. In the cockpit he took out the microphone of the radio and made contact with HYDRA.

“Mayday, mayday! Agent down! Deceased!” he yelled in panic. “I want to retreat this mission.”

Then he became suddenly silent. He was thinking. Thinking about the reward he would receive if he completed this mission and delivers the girl alive. He shook his head.

“No. No, I won’t retreat. I’ll go back and finish this.”

He hung the microphone back up, went to the rear and took a weapon out of a crate. Then he rushed out of the helicopter.

* * *

Bruce finished checking the vitals and wound on Bucky, for the last time.

“It looks great. The wound is almost done healing. You may leave medical in the morning and go back on mission in a few days.”

Steve and Bucky smiled happily.

“Can’t wait to speak to Julia. I was worried about her,” Bucky said.

“It’s late so go to sleep first. You can talk to her tomorrow,” Steve remarked.

Outside they heard an explosion. It was so loud the windows started to tremble. Steve rushed to the window and gazed at the dormitory wing. He was shocked to what he saw.

“What’s happening?” Bucky asked worriedly.

Then they heard Scott calling out in the hallway.

“Out of the way! Emergency!”

Accompanied by siren noises, he entered the room with a dazed Julia in his arms. The men looked at them in shock as Scott laid her in an empty bed across from Bucky.

“Scott, tell me what’s going on!” Steve demanded as he rushed to them.

Bruce went to the side of Julia’s bed and shone a small flashlight in her eyes. Julia, confused, pushed away the tiny torch as the bright light hurt her eyes.

“HYDRA’s here. They want her back.”

“What?” Bucky exclaimed, shocked while he carefully got out of his bed and walked to Julia, after Bruce was done. 

“Wanda felt that ghost in the compound again. When we got in your room, we found her lying on the floor, completely cramped, like in a seizure,” Scott rambled to Bucky. He looked at Steve while he kept on rambling. “Then some guy got here out of nowhere. Saying something about Destroyer of Lives and Daniel Whitehall.” 

“You know this person?” Steve asked his friend.

“No. No, he doesn’t sound familiar to me. Do you still have my laptop? I can hack HYDRA for information,” Bucky said.

“It’s in my room. I’ll get it,” Steve said, and he ran out.

Bucky could see pain in her eyes when Julia gazed in the green-blue mixture of his eyes. With his flesh hand Bucky reached out to her face. She grabbed his hand with her gloved hand.

“No,” she mumbled softly. “Don’t touch me.”

“Yes, take some of my energy to heal.”

Julia laid his hand next to her side while she shook her head.

“No. I promised myself not to use my powers on good people. I’ll be fine in a few days,” she said weakly with pauses between words.

“I’ll give you a painkiller,” Bruce said and went to the cabinet.

Bucky sighed worried and just held her hand. He then noticed the ripped sleeve and a tattoo of a hexagon. He knows the meaning of a random symbol on your left shoulder, you belong to HYDRA. He had a star on his metal arm.

A moment later, Sam and Wanda arrived. Scott looked at all the people in the room, feeling uncomfortable.

“I guess it’s better that I’m leaving. I’ll clean up the mess the guy made,” he announced and made a move to go.

“Scott,” Bucky called out.

Scott looked at him from the doorway.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Scott smiled at him and left.

* * *

In the meantime, Steve ran into his room. He opened the drawer of his desk and took out Bucky’s laptop. With the device under his arm, he turned around and saw Natasha.

“I heard an explosion. What’s going on?” She asked.

“Somebody from HYDRA wanted Julia.”

Her eyes widened in shock.

“Is she okay?”

“No,” Steve sighed. “Scott said her body was in a cramp when he and Wanda found her in Bucky’s room.”

Natasha is in shock, and couldn’t believe what she heard.

“Scott gave us new information. Bucky is going to check it. Who knows, we may have more answers about what happened to Julia,” Steve explained. “I have to go now.”

Steve ran out of his room, leaving Natasha in shock and worry.

* * *

Wanda stood next to Bucky. She reached out her fist and opened it, to show Julia a small one button remote control.

“Can you tell us what this is?” she asked.

Julia sat up and took it out of Wanda’s hand. She looked at it.

“I saw the Madame using this. It will…”

She felt silenced, afraid to continue. The Avengers waited patiently for her to continue.

“It gives me an unbearable pain, coming from the center of my back overwhelming my whole body. I’m unable to move when it happens,” she explained after a moment. She took a deep breath. “It’s one of my punishments.”

She saw the device blazing red by Wanda’s powers. It flew up towards the ceiling. They watched it as it hovered above Julia. Then the device spattered into pieces. A shot of pain went through Julia’s body as it happened and she screamed out her agony.

“Julia?” Bucky called out worried as she collapsed back onto her pillow.

She was panting in pain as Bucky held her hand firmly.

“You’re free now,” Sam reassured.

“You all think I’m free after the destruction of one remote control? I’m not. Every HYDRA soldier has a remote control and can use it whenever they want, when I’m near them,” Julia warned them. She was panting.

“She has a point,” Bucky acknowledged.

Sam sighed, wishing her misery was going to end. In the meantime Steve returned and gave the laptop to Bucky.

“What was his name again?” Bucky asked as he typed on his computer.

“Whitehall,” Steve responded, as he went to his friend and gazed at the screen over Bucky’s shoulder.

Bucky typed in the name and information with his picture appeared on screen.

“He has a doctorate level degree. Academic staff member of the HYDRA Preparatory Academy,” Bucky reads aloud. “Project leader of ‘Destroyer of Worlds’ and ‘Destroyer of Lives.’”

“Destroyer of Lives, that’s me,” Julia snorted sarcastically and rubbed her face, being tired.

He clicked on the link to the ‘Destroyer of Lives’ file. The first thing he saw was a picture of Julia. Pale as snow and her eyes closed. She was clearly dead in the picture. Bucky took a deep breath and cleared his throat to overcome his shock. He scrolled further in the file. During scrolling he saw new information; Adamantium skeleton, Super Soldier Serum, GH.325, trigger words and a control device.

“This information of HYDRA’s says she has a control device between the T8 and T9 vertebra,” Bucky informed them.

Bruce went to a computer in the corner of the room. He opened Julia’s digital medical file and clicked on the scanned X-rays to enlarge them. He squeezed his eyes to find something ordinary.

“Can’t see them on the X-rays.”

Sam looked over the doctors shoulder at the screen, while Bruce zoomed into the X-ray.

“You sure?”

“Yes I’m sure,” Bruce remarked as he kept on searching.

Julia stared at the ceiling as a memory of Wanda, who let a jar with sugar cubes flying from a table to another with her telekinetic powers, played in her mind.

“Wanda?” she mumbled as she looked at her. Wanda looked at the teen. “You can remove it with your powers.”

“I don’t think it can go easily,” Bruce blurted out. “If she moves a vertebra you can end up paralyzed or maybe worse.”

“I don’t care. If I die, then I’ll die,” Julia insisted. 

Wanda could feel the desperation inside the teenager’s body.

“Please. Get it out,” Julia begged.

Suddenly the window was shattered by bullets. All the Avengers ducked and hid from the flying glass shards. Steve and Wanda flattened themselves on the floor, hiding their heads under their arms. 

Bucky jumped on Julia, rolled over and dragged her off the bed. They landed on the floor with Bucky on top of Julia. Sam and Bruce jumped to the other bed and hid underneath it. 

Bullets hit the mattresses, pillows and duvets on the beds, and feathers were floating through the air. A few seconds later the shooting stopped.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!!! MENTION OF RAPE!!!

It’s late night and Tony and Clint are walking to one of Tony’s vehicles, in the garage of the Stark Tower.

“You really love doing activities in the late evening, huh?” Clint yawned.

“Well since that Living Dead Girl is getting on my nerves, my insomnia is out of control. So thank her for the dark circles underneath your eyes when you see her.”

“Mr. Stark?” a young male voice called out.

The men stopped walking, turned around and saw Peter Parker standing behind them. The teenager had a pleading expression on his face.

“I want to go with you. Maybe I can help,” he said.

“Kid, no. This is our business,” Tony warned. “Besides, it’s bedtime for you.”

“Please, Mr. Stark. I want some answers from her as well. Just please, let me go with you,” the boy begged. “Who knows I can get the answers you want. I know her.”

“You really know her?” Tony remarked, annoyed, as he inclined his head a little bit.

“Well, not a lot but…” He looked at his mentor with begging eyes. “Please let me go with you.”

Tony looked at Clint.

“Why not?” Clint shrugged.

The billionaire rolled his eyes.

“Okay, hop in the car,” Tony sighed reluctantly.

* * *

The Avengers were still on the ground. Sam coughed as he inhaled a feather. Bucky opened his eyes and looked worried at Julia. Her expression was filled with anxiety as she tried to control her breathing without choking.

“Are you okay?” Bucky asked worriedly.

Panic rose in her nerves as her body started to tremble. Her eyes widened when she remembered her nightmare that unfortunately really happened to her inside HYDRA. Bucky took her by the shoulders.

“Calm down, Julia.”

“Get off me,” she stammered while begging. She took her head in her hands as she squeezed her eyes shut. “Please, get off me.”

Bucky looked at her in shock and wondered what happened to her. He could guess she was tortured and manipulated badly, but also…?

Slowly he let her go and looked at Sam and Bruce. They were watching the two worriedly. Bucky looked at Steve and Wanda, who were standing at the other side of the bed. They also were concerned, although Wanda could feel what had happened to Julia. Bucky looked back at Julia who was still hiding her face in her arms, trying to breathe steadily.

“Julia? Please tell…”

“GET OFF ME!” Julia interrupted him, yelling at him and pushing him roughly away.

Propelled by the push, Bucky flew through the air, hitting the wall with his back. Quickly Julia stood up and ran out of the room. Bucky stood up immediately and made a move to follow her, but a stab of pain in his chest held him down. He clenched his jaw as he took a breath, stood up anyways and ran after her.

Julia ran as fast as she could through the hallways of the dormitory wing. She arrived at an emergency door, pushed down the bar to open it, and ran into the darkness of the night.

“Julia!” she heard Bucky calling out but she kept on running.

Out of the blue Wanda landed in front of her. Julia couldn’t stop in time and bumped hard into her, they both fell in the dirt. In confusion Julia pushed herself off Wanda to run away, but Wanda grabbed her ankle and made her fall again. 

“Let me go!” the teen cried out.

“I know you’re scared and want to run from it. But please stay here for your safety,” Wanda warned as she kept holding Julia’s ankle.

Then they heard a man laughing. The girls looked up and saw a silhouette in the darkness. Wanda stood up and protected Julia by standing in between them with blazing hands. In the meantime, Bucky arrived. He was slightly panting after his run.

“The Winter Soldier. Such an honor to meet you,” the silhouette spoke as he stepped into a beam of a security light and revealed his identity. “My name is Alexander Calla.”

Julia crawled a bit back as anxiety built up when she recognized his face. Her heart raced in her chest when the disgusting scene played in her mind.

“Doesn’t ring any bells for me,” Bucky snarled sarcastically as he came closer to the trio.

“That’s because Whitehall and Pierce were on different projects inside HYDRA,” Lex chuckled.

A slight shock in Julia’s body as she heard Whitehall’s name again. Lex closed his eyes and laid a hand on his heart.

“Bless Pierce’s soul,” Alex said as he made the gesture of the cross with his hand.

“Well, I’d be blessed if he burned in hell!” Bucky snarled again.

Lex snapped his eyes open and quickly grabbed a gun out of the pocket of his long coat to shoot at Bucky. Wanda in her turn rapidly placed a magical shield in between them to stop the bullet. The bullet hit the shield and dissolved. Lex looked amazed at Wanda’s trick. He lowered his gun and smiled.

“I see you’re one of us.”

“I’m not one of you,” Wanda sneered in return. “And neither is she.”

Lex looked at Julia, who slowly stood up from the dirt. She took a few steps back and bumped into Bucky. In shock she turned and faced the soldier. Gently Bucky laid his hands on her arms.

“Let’s go inside,” Bucky whispered.

They started walking until Lex started talking out loud.

“Come with me into Whitehall’s HYDRA and you’ll find meaning.”

She stopped and turned around to face Lex.

“You know The Sir too?” she asked, amazed.

A bigger smile appeared on Lex’s face.

“I am serving him with great pleasure.”

Julia stood still and just stared at him, trying to process what she heard.

“You know what’s best? What’s best is to come with me,” Lex suggested as he reached out his hand.

Wanda still separated them with the magical shield.

Julia released herself from Bucky and took a few steps towards Lex.

“Julia, don’t listen to him,’ she heard Bucky warning her.

Thoughts about her choices went through her head. Inside the compound she feels safe with The Avengers but she knew she would put them into danger because of HYDRA. She also felt an urge to be with Whitehall, who gave her life and comfort during her stay in HYDRA. She couldn’t remember him and The Madame talking about The Avengers.

“I have to go,” the teen announced.

“What? No! You’ll be…” Wanda warned her, but got cut off.

“Wanda, please. It’s for the safety of The Avengers. What if a whole army of HYDRA breaks down the compound just for me?” Tears welled up in her eyes. “It’s better to go with him.” Julia looked at the magical shield. “Let it go, Wanda,” she said, determined.

Suddenly Julia felt somebody take her elbow. She looked around her shoulder and saw it was Bucky.

“Don’t, Julia. They will trigger you and let you kill innocent people. Can’t you remember what they did to you against me?” he begged.

Julia laid a gloved hand on Bucky’s hand which was holding her.

“I do remember and I’ll make sure it won’t happen again. Trust me,” she reassured him.

Then they let each other go and Julia glanced back to Wanda. Julia laid a hand on Wanda’s shoulder.

“It’s okay,” the teen whispered to her.

Wanda looked at her with sad eyes. She could feel the confusion in Julia. Carefully she faded out the shield. The teenager hugged her. Over Julia’s shoulder, Wanda looked at Lex with angry eyes.

Lex said nothing and just looked at them, still smiling.

The girls let each other go and Julia went to Lex. The two walked into the forest.

Wanda went over to Bucky who just stood in place in disbelief. Bucky watched how Julia walked into the woods. Once the teenager looked over her shoulder, looked back at her path and then she disappeared.

“Oh my god,” he whispered, confused. “She just…” He shook his head as he went through his hair with his hands. He thought he was getting crazy. “Am I dreaming?”

“No, you’re not,” Wanda said with a trembling voice, also not believing what happened. “She’s very confused. She’s trying to protect us but she can’t protect herself. They already have her mentally under control.”

Bucky rubbed his face, trying to let what he had just witnessed sink in.

“We need to go back to the compound,” he mumbled in disbelief as he released his face.

* * *

Julia and Lex walked through the forest to HYDRA’s helicopter. A hesitation occurred in Julia and she stopped a few feet from the helicopter. Lex noticed, stopped as well and looked at her.

“What?” he sneered at her.

Julia froze in place as she tried to speak. She swallowed a lump in her throat as tears welled up in her eyes. She shook her head and looked back at the compound in the far distance.

“I don’t know anymore,” she stuttered confusedly.

Lex quickly went over to her, grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her to the helicopter. Julia was too confused to protest and just followed his lead. He pushed her into the aircraft, jumped in and closed the door. Lex took his place behind the control column. Julia sat next to him, staring at her feet. He started the engine of the aircraft. He took the microphone of the radio and made contact. 

“Calla to HYDRA. I have the subject.”

He waited a few seconds until the other side made contact.

“Roger that. Come back to Delaware base immediately,” a woman’s voice with a Russian accent filled the cockpit.

Fear overwhelmed her and her heart started to race as Julia recognized the voice. It was Madame HYDRA, and memories of torture by the Madame went through her mind.

* * *

Steve looked up when a devastated Bucky entered the room. Bucky’s face turned to anger as he saw his friend. Steve stood up from his chair when Bucky approached him. Suddenly Bucky grabbed Steve by the collar of his hoodie.

“Where were you?” he growled.

“Bucky calm down. I know you’re angry but…”

“You were supposed to help us get her back! Why didn’t you help us?” Bucky yelled desperately.

Steve could see the anger in his eyes and hear the desperation in his voice. Bruce walked over to the duo and laid a hand on Bucky’s shoulder.

“I guess it’s better to let Steve go and have a seat. We will explain everything,” Bruce told him.

Bucky did what Bruce suggested, he let go of Steve and took a seat on a chair next to the bed where he had woken up from his coma. Steve leaned against the bed, Wanda took a seat on the bed across from them. Natasha, who joined them during the absence of Bucky and Wanda, sat in the chair next to the bed where Julia had been. Sam settled in front of the window and stared into the woods, while Bruce stood in front of Bucky thinking how to start his speech. Bucky waited impatiently.

“Well. Do we have a plan to save her or what? Because that’s what you were doing here huh? Thinking about a plan,” Bucky grumbled.

“We did. But Bucky…” Steve sighed in grief. “Julia is seriously ill.”

“She’s scared, Steve!” Bucky snapped with a loud voice as he threw his hands in the air. “We have to save her and keep her here. She’s safe here! Not HYDRA. Not SHIELD. Here in this compound! With us!”

Steve shook his head and laid his face in his hands, while Bucky was rambling. He just doesn’t know how to explain this to his best friend. Then Bruce took over the conversation.

“Bucky, listen to me. I had contact with the doctor of SHIELD, who investigated her. She told me that Julia is developing Stockholm Syndrome.”

Bucky looked confused at him.

“What’s that?”

“Stockholm Syndrome is a condition in which hostages develop a psychological alliance with their captors during captivity,” Bruce started to explain. “Emotional bonds may be formed, between captor and captives, during intimate time together, but these are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims.” 

Bucky’s eyes widened in shock. He turned silent for a moment.

“But why didn’t you come and help us? We could have used your help,” he asked, confused.

“We thought you and Wanda could handle it,” Steve admitted.

“We couldn’t. Julia is mentally too damaged,” Wanda sighed. “Too desperate to leave us and return to HYDRA for our safety.”

Sam stared out of the window into the woods. In the distance he saw HYDRA’s helicopter flying up in the sky.

“I guess that’s HYDRA’s helicopter with her,” Sam sighed.

Then out of nowhere the Iron Man flew towards the helicopter. Sam saw it happening, turned around and started to leave the room, quickly.

“Change of plan! Tony is getting after her. I’ll go!”

Sam ran to the armor warehouse, a small wing next to the medical ward.

He opened the corridor of the warehouse and collected his stuff from his personal locker.

Sam placed the jetpack with his wings on his back after he had his suit on, grabbed a few items and left the compound.

* * *

In the meantime Natasha started doing a surgery on Julia’s stuffed animal. Bruce went to his lab to make contact with SHIELD.

Bucky was on his laptop again, searching for more information. He found combat reports, how many times she’s been wiped and her punishments. During reading he felt somebody staring at him. He looked up and saw it was Wanda.

“Something wrong?” he wondered as he saw her concerned face.

“I felt a disgusted aura between Julia and that man,” Wanda admitted after she sighed. “I could read her mind when she arrived here.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and Bucky wondered what was wrong, but also he got worried.

“You know what happened?” he asked.

Wanda walked over to him and hovered a glowing hand in front of his forehead. Caused by her powers, horrific images came into his mind of Julia and two men, raping her. Guilt hit Bucky’s guts as the images faded out of his mind.

“That’s why she got so scared when I was on top of her. I triggered her.”

Bucky shook his head and stood up from his seat. He wandered around the room, still trying to believe what head seen. But his mind was on rapid speed. Thoughts about how scared Julia would be during her torture. The pain she felt. How she possibly begged them to stop.

Suddenly he punched a hole in the wall with his metal fist.

“Bucky, calm down!” Steve warned.

“They raped her!”

“What?” Steve reacted upset.

Natasha covered her mouth with her hand, in shock. Bucky balled his fists, they trembled in anger.

“I want to kill him. I want to kill them all,” he growled in anger.

“One of them is already killed. The other man is with her now,” Wanda said with a shaky voice. 

Bucky was walking around the area, very restlessly.

Something was bothering Steve. He noticed that when Bucky was talking about Julia he got very protective. He went to him and laid an arm around his friend’s shoulders.

“Come on, let’s have a coffee.” Over his shoulder he looked at Wanda and Natasha. “You keep doing advanced preparation. If we come back we will start with the new plan.”

The ladies nodded and the men left the room.

Together they walked to the coffee machine at the end of the hallway. Bucky took a seat in the waiting area, while Steve chose a hot drink from the machine.

“I want to talk to you in private.”

“About what?” Bucky snapped, still not calming down.

“Julia. And please be honest.”

Bucky huffed out a smile. Steve gave him a coffee and sat next to him. Bucky took a sip of his hot drink.

“What do you want to know?” Bucky mumbled because he was still pissed off.

“Do you love her?”

“Of course, Steve!” the mourning soldier snapped.

“Bucky, may I remind you she’s just seventeen?”

For a moment, Bucky blinked his eyes at him, not believing what he heard. Then he laughed for a moment. Steve wondered why he was laughing.

“You think I’m IN LOVE with her?”

Steve nodded.

“No, Steve. No. Like you said, she’s seventeen! Besides, she is not my type.” He sighed. “I just see her as my little sister.” He stared at the wall in front of them. He squeezed his eyes lightly. “Just imagine her as a brunette and brown eyes. Who do you see?”

Steve gazed at the ceiling. In his mind he imagined Julia as a brown eyed brunette. Then he noticed the resemblance.

“Your sister Rebecca?” Steve questioned.

“Exactly! She looks just like Rebecca and that’s why I protect her.” He looked at his friend. “She’s our little sister. We are her new family. HYDRA misled her about family-values, so we have to teach her about that again.”

“I understand your protectiveness towards her now,” Steve admitted. 

Bucky smiled at his friend, thankful he understood him.

“Now let’s suit up and see if that plan of yours will work, Captain.”

* * *

Natasha placed the last stitch on the stuffed animal. After she was done she put on the little red shirt over its body. She held the bear in her hands and looked at it.

“I hope this plan works,” she shared her concern towards Wanda.

“It will, and your plan will work as well.”

Natasha smiled because she knew Wanda was mostly right. She gazed at the laptop on Bucky’s bed. She walked to it and looked at the screen. It still showed the page with Julia’s information. Natasha read the reports quickly. Her heart pounded when she read about punishments, trigger words and the amount of wipes she got put through. She sunk her head as she released a sigh.

Bucky and Steve returned to the room, both suited up. Bucky noticed Natasha reading the report. She looked up at him.

“Is this everything they have done to her?”

Bucky swallowed away a lump in his throat and took a deep breath.

“I guess not. ”

“I suspected she’s been trained by someone from The Red Room and they did the ceremony on her,” Natasha admitted.

Bucky went over to her and hugged her. He knew about the history of the Red Room, so he understood her fear.

Steve went to the stuffed animal and took it in his hands.

“Could you place the GPS?”

“Yes, I did,” Natasha replied, as she released herself from Bucky.

“Could you find Scott?”

“No, he wasn’t in Bucky’s room,” Wanda replied.

“Okay, now let’s go before…”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” somebody interrupted from the doorway.

They all looked up and saw Clint blocking the entrance. Natasha slightly rolled her eyes before she went over to the arrowed man.

“Clint, we’ve talked about this before.”

“Where is she?”

“She left. She knows she’ll bring us in danger, so she left,” Natasha partly lied.

Clint looked deeply in her eyes, squeezing his own a little. He even slightly inclined his head.

“I don’t….”

Suddenly Natasha punched him in the face before he could finish his sentence. He stumbled backwards and tripped over his own feet. Bucky, Wanda and Steve took the benefit of the action and quickly passed them by to run into the hallway. Clint saw them running away and tried to stand up but a kick in his nuts by Natasha put him down again. He moaned and cringed when Natasha walked away from him.

* * *

Julia watched how the trees became smaller as the chopper lifted up into the air. Once the aircraft had its altitude, Lex pushed on a button to activate the automatic pilot. He glanced at Julia and noticed she wasn't fastened to the seat. He sighed and shook his head, wondering why she was so stupid not to fastened the seatbelt.

“Wouldn't it be wise to fasten yourself?” he asked annoyed.

“Nothing happened, right,” Julia mentioned as she shrugged a shoulder, still looking out of the window.

Lex rolled his eyes at her remark. Then the chopper jerked once and Julia looked scared at the man. The HYDRA agent looked around to see what happened. From the corner of her eye, Julia saw a laser beam cutting out a U-form in the ceiling. Four red shining fingers went through the gap and pulled open the roof. Caused by the wind pressure, Julia was launched from her seat and got blasted to the other side of the chopper, while she screamed out her lungs in anxiety. Iron Man jumped into the chopper and quickly looked at Lex, who looked amazed at the intruder.

“You! Out!” Iron Man demanded and quickly pushed a button on the control stick.

Suddenly Lex and his chair got ejected out of the aircraft with a scream.

Iron Man looked up at Julia who laid in the back of the chopper. She rolled over to lay on her stomach and saw the red-golden robot approaching.

“Okay, Living Dead Girl. You’re coming with me,” Iron Man demanded as he walked towards her.

Julia got on her hands and knees, her body was aching of being smacked against the sides of the aircraft. Scared she looked at the red-golden robot. Quickly she looked around for a way to escape. In the corner she saw a crate with weapons. She jumped at it, took out a SIG Sauer P226 and quickly fed some bullets into it. She aimed with a shaky hand at him.

“Are you seriously going to shoot at me with that?”

“Make me,” Julia snarled back.

Inside his helmet, Tony rolled his eyes. He reached out his arms sideward.

“Go ahead.”

Her heart started to race when anxiety kicked in. As far as she could remember, she had never held a weapon in her hands. Although she had memories of holding weapons, she couldn’t believe it was really her because it wasn’t in her nature to use it. Slowly she laid a finger on the trigger. Sweat broke out as she closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. Then she pulled the trigger. Julia shrieked at the loud sound of the shot. The blast out of the gun made her ears ring. She opened her eyes and saw Iron Man still standing there without a scratch. She pulled the trigger again and saw how the bullet bounced off his suit. Her mouth fell open in amazement and her eyes were filled with fear.

“My turn now,” Iron Man announced as he lifted up his hand.

His hand palm had a blue glowing circle. A second later a laser beam blasted out of it. Julia could dive away just in time before getting hit. She tried to run away from him while he kept following and firing her. Then a laser beam hit her between the shoulders. She got blasted against the gate of the chopper, which was still flying on automatic pilot. The impact ejected Julia through the exit and she got sucked into the air. With a scream she reached out her hand and was able to grab the hanging door of the chopper. The wind blew into her face as she hung outside the aircraft. When she looked up she saw Iron Man looking at her.

“Help me,” she begged him. “Please!”

Iron Man did nothing and just stared at her. All of a sudden the door broke out of its frame, causing Julia to fall into the depth. During her fall she screamed and cried. Thoughts about her ending went through her mind.

Then out of nowhere, two strong arms caught her.

“I’ve got you!” she heard a familiar voice.

She opened her eyes and saw Sam. Tears of happiness left her eyes when she smiled at him. Sam glanced at her and smiled back. But the moment abruptly ended when Iron Man shot a laser beam and hit Sam’s wings.

“Shit!” he yelled as he lost balance.

It caused him to lose Julia and she fell towards the depths again.

“SAM!” she screamed while reaching out a hand during her fall.

“JUL!” Sam yelled back but couldn’t chase her as Iron Man was on his back and had begun a fight with him in midair.

In the meantime, Julia fell towards her death.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING!!! MENTION OF RAPE!!

During her fall she screamed out loud and saw the trees coming closer, fast. Julia squeezed her eyes closed, waiting for the plunge as she went through the high tops of the trees. But then she sensed a rope around her ankle and it stopped her fall. She felt herself bouncing up and down. When she opened her eyes she saw she was some yards away from the ground. Julia looked up at her feet and saw a web was tangled around her ankle.

“Are you okay?” she heard a voice from behind her.

Julia looked to see where the voice was coming from and saw Spiderman hanging upside down, with the help of his spider webs.

“Are you hurt?” he asked worriedly.

Julia kept silenced as she gazed at the red-blue masked figure. She even wondered on which side he would be.

“Can I trust you?” she asked suspiciously.

“Yeah, you can. Shall I take you down safely?”

Julia nodded, but still was suspicious. Spiderman went closer to her and wrapped his arm around her. She winced as a burning pain occurred on her upper back.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah.” Julia groaned.

Then he noticed the burn on her back. It didn’t look good as it was an almost second degree burn.

“You’re burned,” he almost panicked.

“Iron Man did that. Can you please put me on the ground?”

“Okay. Hold me tight,” he advised and Julia followed his word.

He ripped the spider webs from her ankle, quickly shot a new string and slid her slowly to the ground. When she got her feet on the ground she looked at him, scared. Spiderman wondered why she was staring at him.

“Something wrong?”

“I think I remember you,” Julia said.

“Uhm, yeah. We’ve met before,” he said while he rubbed the back of his neck.

Julia squeezed her eyes as she heard something familiar in his voice.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Spiderman.”

Julia walked closer to him, shaking her head, not really believing what he said.

“No. WHO are you?”

Sweat broke out of his pores as he held up his hands in defense while she was coming closer. In a quick movement, Julia tried to rip off his mask. In his turn he quickly grabbed her wrist and held it firmly. They were both amazed at their own fast reactions. Carefully she placed a foot behind his foot and pushed him, making him trip and fall. She got on top of him quickly and was able to grab his mask. She lifted it and a piece of his chin appeared. Then Spiderman shot a web over her face. She went off him and pulled at the sticky substance to get it off her face.

“Get it off me! I can’t breathe,” she panicked.

Spiderman felt sorry and helped her remove the webs. Once her face was clear she was taking deep breaths. She looked at him and saw a piece of his bare throat.

“You okay now?” Spiderman asked worriedly.

Julia nodded while gazing at his flesh. Behind them they heard a man laughing. They looked up at the laughter.

“The Madame is still right. You’re weak,” Lex chuckled while hanging upside down on a tree, almost completely mummified in spider webs.

“Will you please be quiet?” he asked, and he shot a web that covered Lex’s mouth. “Thank you.”

Spiderman sighed and glanced at his feet. He found it hard, what he wanted to say next.

“Listen, I have to tell you something first. It’s about your father,” he started with a shaky voice. “Iron Man was chasing him and your father's car got into an accident.” He took a deep breath and continued. “The car exploded and killed your father. I’m so sorry for telling you this.”

After he put his gaze back on Julia, she quickly grabbed his throat with her bare hand. Her fingers could touch the revealed skin and her powers started to suck out his energy. Spiderman screamed out his pain. In her turn, Julia yelled as images flashed painfully through her mind of a brunette teenage boy, she could see in her mind.

He was making webs in a jar, and hugged her while she was crying in a school canteen. Also flashes of the Spiderman and herself standing on a roof of a villa and a fight in a bathroom between them.

She released him and the memories faded away. 

“Peter?” she whispered while panting.

Panic rose in Spiderman’s guts.

“How…I mean…huh?”

“Are you…”

Spiderman quickly shot another web at Lex, covering his eyes. Then he removed his mask to reveal his identity. Julia’s eyes widened in shock as she backed away from him.

“What the hell, Peter?”

“Don’t tell anyone,” he begged with a quiet voice.

Julia rushed her hands through her hair as she couldn’t believe who was hiding in that suit.

“Are you…?”

“Yeah, I’m an Avenger.”

“How come I have never seen you in the compound?” she asked confused when the panic level in her body reduced.

“I still live at Aunt May’s house in Queens. Mr. Stark, who is Iron Man, is also an Avenger but lives in his Stark Tower in the city. And then there’s Hawkeye, who lives on a farm in Missouri with his wife and kids but stays in the compound for a night when a mission is done. Then he goes back to his home the next day.” Peter explained. “His real name is Clint Barton, by the way.”

He watched her while she picked up her leather glove and put it on.

“So, what happened?”

Julia sighed as she looked at her hands. She finds it hard to tell what happened to her.

“Remember we had to search for crystals in his villa?” she started while memories slowly went into her mind.

Peter nodded. He did remember it. It was traumatic to see her covered in rocks and then finding out she was missing.

“I got in contact with it a few days before we had that ambush by HYDRA in our villa.”

“But you also were in contact with it during the ambush,” Peter reminded her.

Julia nodded.

“I have learned from Mr. Stark these crystals can give you powers. So anything special you can do now?” Peter wondered.

Julia didn’t know where to start, because she didn’t want to scare him off. She turned around and took a few steps away from him. Peter noticed the burns on her back were gone.

“Julia? The burns on your back. It’s gone.”

“That’s because I touched you,” Julia started to explain. “I can heal from wounds when I touch somebody, skin to skin. Sometimes I have memories of the person I’m touching. ”

She went silent for a few seconds.

“I remembered you were making webs for Halloween,” she continued.

She looked over her shoulder to meet his gaze.

“But I guess it wasn’t for Halloween, huh?”

Peter felt embarrassed.

“No, it wasn’t,” he admitted.

She turned around to face him better.

“But there is more about my powers. I can absorb the life out of somebody when I hold them too long, skin to skin. You should be lucky I didn’t kill you with my powers.”

“Did you…?”

Memories of her killing HYDRA soldiers with her powers faded in and out of her head. She started to feel embarrassed.

“In several memories I did see myself killing and hurting people,” she sighed. “But I don’t know if it was really me because HYDRA can remove my memories and change me into another person. Although some memories are coming back since I’ve been in some kind of memory restore machine from SHIELD.”

Peter could see the regrets in her expression when she spoke.

“So….my so-called father is dead now?” she asked.

Peter nodded. Julia just gazed away from him. He noticed she had no sorrow for the man who raised her.

Then Iron Man interrupted Peter through his comms.

“Kid, could you find the Living Dead Girl?”

He laid a finger on his ear to speak into the comms.

“Uhm…No Mr. Stark, I’m still looking for her,” he lied to protect Julia.

He sighed as he put his mask back on.

“I have to go,” he said softly. “I’m sorry.”

Julia just nodded but Peter could see she was inside her own mind. Gently he laid a hand on her shoulder, that made her look up at him.

“Will you be okay?” he asked worriedly.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine,” she reassured him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, just go. Do what you need to do and don’t worry about me,” she said while she shrugged her shoulders.

He nodded, shot a web and flew away. Julia looked at him as he made his way, like a Tarzan. When Spiderman was out of her view, she looked at Lex who was still hanging upside down, covered in webs. She searched for a rock with a sharp edge. When she found one she climbed into the tree and started to bang with the rock on the web. After a few bangs it started to shred and before she knew it, the rope broke and Lex fell down on the ground. She heard his muffled scream. Julia jumped out of the tree and landed next to him.

“Sorry,” she apologized to him.

With her gloved fingers she tried to peel off the webs off his face. She got irritated when it didn’t go fast enough, in her opinion. Finally she freed one eye and he looked angry at her.

“Hey, I said sorry.”

“Need help?” she heard a woman.

Julia looked up scared at the direction the voice was coming from but got relieved when she saw it was Natasha. Natasha took out a knife out of her belt and started to cut the webs off Lex.

“They are after you,” Natasha warned.

“I…” Julia said but got cut off when a large arrow pierced through her chest.

“Julia!” Natasha called out as she saw her being pulled away.

Julia screamed out her pain as she collapsed on the ground. Natasha looked up at the other side of the thin chains and saw it was Clint.

“Clint, no! Don’t do this!”

“It’s for our safety,” he snarled at Natasha when he pulled Julia closer to him. “She belongs in the jail of SHIELD.”

Then a small metal disc appeared on his arm. It spread out tiny wires and electrocuted Clint. He shrieked as he fell on the ground.

Julia rolled onto her side, broke the arrow on her back and pulled it out through her chest, while she gritted her teeth in pain. She looked at a dazed Clint as she was taking painful breaths. She dragged herself to him and took off a glove.

“Julia, don’t!” she heard Natasha but it was too late.

Julia laid her bare hand on his bare arm and felt his energy rushing into her body. Clint screamed out his pain while Julia kept on gritting her teeth. She looked up shocked as she saw a memory of him and Natasha sharing a kiss in a restaurant. She didn’t know if it was her or her alter who saw this. Julia released him when Natasha approached her. The former spy helped the teen with getting on her feet. Clint was still almost knocked out on the ground.

“You’re a couple?” Julia questioned, confused as she was wobbly on her feet.

“We’re friends,” Natasha replied as she held Julia steady.

Julia was confused.

“But I had a memory of both of you sharing an intimate kiss in a restaurant.”

“It’s complicated,” the former spy admitted. She saw Julia was still bleeding. “You’re still bleeding.”

Natasha laid a hand on Julia’s chest and back wound and put on pressure to prevent more bleeding. The teenager groaned in pain.

“I’ll be okay. I can touch other people. But not you. Not the other Avengers.” Julia looked at a still dazed Clint. “And not him anymore.”

“Listen. I am letting you go to HYDRA.” Natasha looked at Lex who is now free from the webs. “At the edge of the woods there is a black Audi Q7.” Lex was looking confused and suspicious. “Trust me. In the trunk there is a first aid box, I want you to take care of her wounds before you go. Now leave.”

“Nat, before we go I have to admit something. I’m a sick person.”

Natasha’s stomach dropped as the teen finished her sentence.

“I have this sick feeling towards all of you and it’s not good,” Julia said. Her voice was filled with pain, physically and mentally.

“Sweetheart, what are you trying to say?” Natasha asked worried as she still put pressure on the wounds.

Tears welled up in the teen’s eyes. She started to feel nauseous and her body began to tremble.

“I love you and I love Bucky. I love Sam, Steve and Wanda. The Sir had taught me love is a sickness,” she stuttered after she swallowed upcoming bile. “I’m sorry.”

Natasha saw the teenager’s cheeks glowing bright red and sweat appeared on her forehead.

“You have a high fever. Go as fast as you can back to HYDRA, so you can…” She sighed. “…so you can be cured.”

When Natasha finished her say, Lex took turn to pressure Julia’s wounds and immediately left. In the background Natasha heard a moaning and groaning Clint. Slowly he was standing up. When he was standing he saw Julia and Lex walking away. He took out his phone and tapped at the screen. Natasha looked curiously at him.

“Zhelaniye,” FRIDAY’s voice said out loud from his phone. “Chetvertyy.”

When Julia heard the words she immediately froze in place. Fear builds up in her veins.

“No,” Julia whispered as a pain emerged in her head.

“Bol.”

Lex smiled as he recognized it.

“Not again,” the teen groaned.

Julia grabbed her head and screamed out her sudden pain while she fell on her knees. Natasha felt it was something wrong and jumped on Clint to take away his phone.

“Otorvannost.”

* * *

Half an hour earlier...

Sam saw Julia falling towards the trees as he had a fight with Iron Man in mid-air. He tried to follow her fall but the Iron Man grabbed his wing and threw him far away. Iron Man saw the helicopter still flying on its automatic pilot. He flew towards it to stop its flight. Suddenly a giant grey-red robot appeared, caught the helicopter and pinched it into pieces. Iron Man stopped immediately and gazed at it in shock.

“Where did you come from?”

“None of your business,” Ant-Man answered and reached out to grab Iron Man.

Iron Man flew away from his grabby hand, but he was slightly too slow. Ant-Man grabbed him by the ankles. Ant-Man shrank into human size while holding him. On the ground he held Iron Man down by gripping his arms tight. Sam landed in front of them.

“Good work, Tic-tac,” he complimented Scott.

Wanda, Steve and Bucky ran to meet them.

“Where the hell did you come from?” Bucky wondered.

“I heard the shooting while I was cleaning your room. Got my suit, shrunk myself and jumped on the guy, waiting for the perfect moment for the big surprise,” Scott explained. “It almost got out of hand when he encountered the ladies, but I had my plan and it worked!”

While Scott was sharing his plan, Sam looked into the woods. He was worried about Julia and had regrets he couldn’t save her. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Sam saw it was Wanda, giving him a reassured smile. He understood the smile and then knew Julia was okay.

“You did well,” Steve acknowledged after Scott finished telling them.

“You’re making big mistakes,” Tony snarled at the Captain after he lifted up the mask of his suit.

“I’m sorry, I know you mean good but this is complicated,” Steve said.

“What’s so complicated? She’s a part of HYDRA!” Tony snarled, upset and confused.

“She’s a victim, Tony. Just like what Bucky was,” Steve explained. “Also this is a part of my plan to save her.”

“This is your plan? To save her? Well this plan sucks and I’m going to stop her!”

Tony was able to break free from Scott, and shot up into the sky. Scott quickly shraunk down to ant size and jumped on Sam, who flew up to follow Tony. When Sam got close, Scott could jump on Tony, and crawled into his suit. Quickly he pulled at some cables and managed to disconnect them.

“What the…” Tony wondered as his suit started to shut down and fell out of the sky. “FRIDAY?” he panicked.

“Suit system offline, reboot not possible,” his AI announced.

Sam was able to catch him in midair.

“We’re going to the compound where Steve will explain everything,” Sam announced and flew off with Tony in his arms.

Steve, Bucky and Wanda looked into the sky and saw how Sam dragged Tony towards their facility. Bucky got nervous and Steve noticed.

“You okay?”

Bucky shook his head. He laid a finger on his comms.

“Nat? Could you find Julia?” he asked worried.

“I can see her from a distance. The HYDRA agent is mummified in something that looks like spider webs and she’s trying to set him free. I’m going to help her.”

“Is she alright?”

“As far as I can see, she’s okay. I’ll let you know. I promise,” Natasha reported.

Bucky released a relieved sigh when they started walking towards the facility. Thoughts about her went through his mind. Is she really okay? Is she wounded?

“Natasha said she’s okay, Bucky,” Steve reminded him.

“I know. But still…” He sighed. “I’m worried.”

“I know, Bucky. We all are.”

“And she feels the same towards you. But she’s scared,” Wanda remarked. “Very scared.”

Suddenly he punched a tree with his metal fist. The tree trunk splintered.

“Bucky, stop it!” Steve called out. “Try to control your anger.”

Then they heard a scream echo through the woods. Bucky recognized the voice immediately, and ran off into the woods.

“Bucky, wait!”

Steve wanted to run after him but Wanda stopped him.

“It will be fine. We’ll meet them in the compound,” she reassured The Captain.

* * *

Bucky was running as fast as he could, although he didn’t know where to go. Then he heard her screaming again; this time it was close. He made a left turn and ran up a small hill. In a distance she saw Natasha and Clint having a fight. Further away he saw Julia kneeling in the dirt, grabbing her head. In front of her was Lex.

“Doma,” FRIDAY’s voice spoke.

“Make it stop!” Julia screamed out her pain, followed by a laugh from Lex.

“Behold! The Destroyer of Lives will appear!” the HYDRA agent called out.

Bucky’s eyes widened as he watched the scene, and it broke his heart. He looked around to find where the voice of FRIDAY was coming from. He knew he had to act fast.

Another Russian word took his attention.

“Vozrodivshiysya.”

Another painful scream from Julia.

Bucky kept on searching, frantically. He knew that when her words were done, a catastrophe would happen. He just didn’t know how many words were left, so he had to act quickly. 

A few feet from the fighting duo he saw a small device in the dirt. Bucky jumped at it, took it in his metal hand and he squeezed it till it shattered into pieces. After he broke it he walked towards Lex and Julia and saw the teenager trying to stand up. But she sank down on her legs and fell back on the ground.

A devious smile came on the HYDRA agent’s lips. Out of the pocket of his pants he took out a slightly burned blue notebook. Bucky stood still in shock. He remembered a similar book that Vasily Karpov has used to trigger the Winter Soldier inside of him, but this version was a lot smaller.

Lex opened the notebook as he started to read out loud, he knew he was close to awake the Destroyer of Lives inside of her. Just a few words were left and it was done. His eyes were focused on the written letters.

“Nikto.”

“No please,” Julia begged weakly in a groan as the pain in her head welled up again. “No more.”

“Me...”

But his word got cut off by a punch on his face with a metal fist. Lex fell in the dirt and dropped the notebook. Bucky picked the small book up and put it in a pocket of his suit. Then he grabbed Lex by the collar of his coat.

“You should be glad my friend has a plan because if it were up to me I would have killed you already,” he growled at him.

Bucky dropped him before he went to Julia. He looked at her in fear as he saw the blood weakly dripping from Julia’s chest.

“Oh my god,” he whispered when he knelt next to her. She was panting in pain with closed eyes. “Julia? Julia, open your eyes,” he begged.

She was in too much pain to give a reaction.

“Listen. I know you don’t want to, but I have to do this.” With his flesh hand he reached to her face. “I’m sorry,” he apologized as he laid his hand on her skin.

Slowly his energy faded out. He felt it was different compared the last time she touched him and it confused him. No pain, no burning feeling inside of him. The wound in Julia’s chest slowly closed, her hot skin cooled down and the red brightness in her cheeks faded away. She blinked her eyes and Bucky could see the green color of them. She was herself, which made him feel relief. He released her as she gazed confused at him.

“You touched me?”

Bucky nodded.

“Why?” she wondered as she slowly sat up.

“Because I hate to see you suffering,” he admitted.

He stood up and pulled her gently back on her feet. Then roughly he pulled up Lex, who still laid on the ground, back on his feet.

“You better keep her in one piece or else…” Bucky warned the agent.

He glanced back at Julia and cupped her cheek with his metal hand.

“You have to go now. Be careful. I love you.”

He embraced her and Julia nearly broke in tears as she heard his heart beating in her ear.

“How can you love me while I’m such a sick person?” she blurted out as she fought against her tears.

She gently pushed herself off him and ran away. Lex gave Bucky an evil look as he passed by to follow Julia. Together they went deeper into the forest, leaving Bucky in confusion about Julia’s comment. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Clint on top of Natasha. They were still fighting.

In the dirt Bucky noticed a broken, bloody arrow. Anger boiled in his veins as he made the connection between Julia’s wound and the arrow. Quickly he went to them and took Clint in a chokehold with his flesh arm.

“Hey!”

“Shut up and come to the compound!” Bucky snarled as he dragged him to the facility, followed by Natasha.

* * *

Lex and Julia arrived at the car. The door of the driver’s seat was already open and Lex got into the car. On the other side, Julia got in the car as well. In front of her seat she noticed an orange stuffed animal. She picked it up and remembered she had seen it in Bucky’s room. She held it tight against her chest. Tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged the bear and could smell Bucky’s scent.

“Why the hell are you crying?”

“I don’t know,” she sobbed. “Just go, okay.”

Lex shook his head in annoyance, started the car, and drove off.

After an hour and a half of driving, Lex glanced back and forth between Julia and the highway. She was still holding the teddy bear, while she gazed out of the window. Bushes and trees were passing by.

“What’s so special about that bear?” he sighed, annoyed.

“It’s a gift from them,” Julia mumbled.

“You know what it means when somebody gives you a gift?”

Julia looked confused at him.

“It means they love you and you know what love means?” Lex continued.

Julia closed her eyes and held the bear tighter. She remembered what Daniel Whitehall told her.

“The Sir told me love is a sickness.” A tear rolled down Julia’s cheek. “I guess I have infected them with my disorder.”

“Or they have infected you,” Lex chuckled. “So…” He looked at the stuffed animal. “Before the sickness spreads…” He suddenly grabbed the bear out of Julia’s arms and threw it from the window of the driver’s side. “…we have to get rid of the source.”

“NO!”

From the back window she saw the bear rolling over the quiet highway. Before Lex knew it, Julia opened the door and jumped out of the moving car. She rolled a few times over the asphalt, got on her feet and ran to the fallen bear. Lex stopped the car with shrieking tires and got out. Luckily for them the whole highway was empty.

“Hey!” Lex yelled. Julia looked at him as she held the bear close to her chest. “What the hell, bitch?”

Julia just stared in fear at him as he got closer to her at a jogging pace. He grabbed her arm roughly and dragged her back to the car.

“You’re hurting me!”

“Good!”

Julia kicked him against the ankles, making Lex trip and nearly fall. Julia managed to break free from his grip, made a run for it and jumped over a low fence. A few yards away was self-storage building, separated from her by a higher fence. In a distance she heard a dog barking. Before she could reach the higher fence, her body went into a sudden cramp. She fell forward and landed in the grass.

“Ha! You really think you could escape, huh?” Lex grabbed the stuffed animal out of her arms and threw it over the higher fence. “Well, think again!”

A German Shepherd came running barking and attacked the bear, which he ripped into pieces. Julia saw it all happening but couldn’t scream or take other action. She felt her body getting limp again, but remained laying in the grass panting for air. Lex lifts her up by grabbing the back of her shirt. Suddenly, the noise of a gunshot filled the air.

“What’s going on here?” a man yelled with a thick New Jersey accent.

Lex looked up and saw an armed man with the dog, now leashed.

“Sorry, my Schizophrenic sister jumped out of the car and had to chase her.”

“Is she alright?” the man now asked worried. “Need any help?”

“Oh, just a slight epileptic seizure at the moment but we will do fine. I’ll carry her to the car to give her medication.”

“Okay. Just a few miles ahead is a medical center, if you need any medical help.”

“Thank you for your concern,” Lex called out and walked back to the car while he carried a very dazed Julia in bridal style.

Once he got to the car, he roughly placed Julia back in the passenger’s seat and fastened her seatbelt. He looked over his shoulder after he closed the door. He saw the man and the dog still standing and watching suspiciously. He waved at them as he walked to the driver’s seat. He stepped in and leaned closer to a dazed Julia.

“You better listen to me now!” he snarled. “I am going to hand you over to Whitehall to receive my reward.” He showed her a one-button-remote control, the same as Wanda had destroyed. “And if you stop obeying me, I’ll make sure to arrange some preparation before the Madame will torture you till death. You hear me?”

Julia could only nod. Then Lex started the car and drove off.

After another hour and half of driving, they arrived at the HYDRA facility. Lex parked the car in a secret garage. They both stepped out and entered the facility. After a while of walking they entered a basement. Julia stopped as she remembered the area while she looked around. She saw the awful machine she had woken up in many times, not remembering anything after being in there. Her heart felt squeezed by the fear.

Then Julia saw a familiar man standing in the back of the area, surrounded by guards. With his hands on his back he walked over to her and Lex, followed by the security. The strange feeling in her stomach appeared again and a smile of relief came on her lips. She couldn’t believe he was there, her savior. She made a sudden move towards him. The guards aimed their weapons at her, which made her stop in shock. Slowly, Whitehall was coming closer to her. His eyes were stern behind the round glasses. Julia had never seen him like this and it scared her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, confused. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“Mr. Calla, you will receive your reward in a minute,” Whitehall told Lex, as he ignored Julia.

A big grin appeared on Lex’s face. He could not restrain himself from rubbing his hands. Two guards came from Whitehall’s behind. They walked to Lex and obstructed him.

“Hey? What the…?” Lex called out, not knowing why this was happening.

“Now. Take his life,” Whitehall ordered when he stood in front of Julia.

“Who? Me?” Julia said, perplexed.

Whitehall nodded. Julia turned around and glanced at Lex. She was afraid to touch him, afraid the nasty memories between them will haunt her. She looked back at HYDRA’s powerful man.

“I can’t,” Julia stuttered in fear.

“Why not?”

“I’m scared,” she admitted. “Scared to remember what he did to me.”

Whitehall laid his bare hands on her shoulders. A small smile came on his lips.

“One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory,” he shared. Julia just stared confused at him. “Go on. Touch him.”

Julia felt the hesitation in her body but she listened to him. She turned back and moved to be next to Lex. She removed a glove and reached out her hand. All of a sudden Lex jumped up and started kicking with his legs. The two guards were able to get him on the floor. One of them placed his shin against his shoulders to restrain him better.

“Let me go!” Lex yelled.

Julia started to back off from him. Suddenly she felt two hands on her shoulders, which pushed her forward. Anxiety built up in her body as this gave her a familiar memory, done by her so-called father.

“No! No, don’t!” She quickly turned around and buried her forehead into the chest of the person who held her. “Don’t make me do this,” she begged as she started to cry.

“Don’t you want to be happy, my precious?”

“Yes,” she answered softly with a tremble in her voice.

“Happiness can be found in the darkness,” Whitehall stated. “So you know where to go now to find your happiness?”

Julia released him and looked at him. She nodded when she knew what he meant. Then she turned around and walked back to Lex, who was still restrained by the guards. She knelt in front of him.

“Don’t,” he groaned.

Julia squeezed her eyes shut in fear and laid her hand on his cheek. His energy rushed into her when her skin touched his. Lex screamed out his pain while Julia tried her best not to. She released him after a moment and took her head in her hands. Painful memories of the rape between them appeared in her mind.

“I need to stop,” she pleaded in a moan.

“No, keep on going,” Whitehall demanded. “Remember where your happiness is.”

Julia saw Lex pale with blue lips but still breathing. His eyes were almost empty.

“You’re almost there. Take it all of his life so you can survive and find your happiness,” she heard Whitehall.

In disfavor she laid her hand on his skin again and the painful ritual and memories started again. After a moment a small electric shock appeared and with a shriek Julia let go. She held her head again, clenching her jaw to restrain screaming as memories of her rape flashed through her mind. A guard checked Lex’s pulse.

“He’s dead, Sir,” he announced.

Then Julia screamed and burst into tears. Whitehall knelt next to her and stroked her back.

“There, there. Let it all out,” he soothed. “You did it all well. You’re getting better.”

“It feels so wrong,” Julia sobbed.

“Don’t worry. That feeling will pass by. Now stand up.”

She got back on her feet, while tears streamed over her cheeks.

“I feel like a monster. Why do I feel like this, Sir?” she asked confused while she wiped the tears of her cheeks.

“Everybody has a monster inside their soul. With some people it comes out, with some people it won’t,” Whitehall huffed with a smile. “But your monster is a gift to HYDRA. We need it and we need you as well, my precious. Just make sure nothing will get in your way. SHIELD, The Avengers, nobody.”

Out of the blue Madame HYDRA showed up. Whitehall and Julia looked up at her as she started reporting.

“The next subject is restrained. You can start with the Faustus method now.”

“Good,” Whitehall responded, and left the area.

Julia looked confused at the Madame as she was dressed in a black pencil dress. Usually she wore her green army uniform.

“What’s going on here?” Julia asked, confused. “Why are you dressed like that?”

The Madame went closer to Julia as she gazed at her from head to toe. She circled around her like a lioness around her prey.

“Mission report,” she demanded as she ignored Julia’s questions.

“The mission failed, as far as I can remember. I was captured by SHIELD who showed me memories. I couldn’t believe they’re mine. Also I was at The Avengers compound temporarily,” the teenager reported.

“Could you kill The Avengers?” The Madame asked as she kept on circling.

Julia bit her bottom lip to hide her anxiety. She shook her head. Suddenly The Madame slapped Julia in the face.

“You pathetic cow! You’ve been there and did nothing?”

“I don’t know what happened in my head, I just couldn’t do anything!” Julia panicked, scared for what the Madame is going to do next.

“How could you? You are a disgrace to HYDRA! Prepare to be punished!” She marched away from the teen and faced her again. “Give her the inhibitor collar!”

One of the guards came out with a collar in his hands. Julia immediately recognized the thing from the time she was with The Avengers, being held hostage by Alexander Pierce. She flinched backwards as the guard came closer.

“No please,” she begged. “I’ll do better from now on.”

She walked into the arms of the two guards who had held Lex down, and got caught. Julia fought to get out of their grip while the men held her firmly. She swayed an arm that made a guard flying across the area. Then she swayed to the other side and the second guard smacked on the ground. In shock she looked at the dazed guard, not knowing how strong she was. Amazed, she looked at her hands. Small memories of her, banging on a metal door and leaving dents, came into her mind.

The guard quickly placed the collar around her neck and locked it. Tiny green lights on the collar went on as a sign it was activated. Julia wanted to test her strength again and wanted to pull off the collar but an electric shock from the collar overwhelmed her body. She screamed out her pain and fell on her knees. She was panting in pain as she heard Madame HYDRA laughing and yelling.

“Take the subject to the Memory Suppressing Machine!”

Guards took Julia by the arms, dragged her to the machine she feared, and threw her into the seat. With a dazed glance Julia looked at the Madame while the guards locked her in the grips.

“I’m not a subject. My name is Julia,” she snarled.

The Madame came closer to be face to face.

“You’re nothing but HYDRA’s subject,” she chuckled.

A scientist entered the area.

“Madame, I am ready for the Destroyer of Lives,” he announced with a Russian accent.

“Good, Rudolf. Wipe her and start the project again.”

Rudolf, the scientist, went to the control panel and pushed some buttons. Above her head Julia saw two mechanical devices coming towards the sides of her head. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw as it placed around her head. She knew what was going to happen.

“My name is Julia Berger,” she whispered to herself a few times.

At the control panel, Rudolf pressed at some buttons. Madame HYDRA looked over his shoulders. She saw how Rudolf set the power level on fifty percent when he lowered a lever and pushed a button. Electricity rushed through Julia’s body as she screamed in agony. She panted as the first shock was finished.

“My name is Julia Berger,” she quietly moaned.

Another shock followed and she could still say her name. Even after a third shock.

“Set it on seventy-five percent,” the Madame ordered.

Rudolf pulled a little bit on the lever and pushed the button. More electricity went through Julia as she screamed louder. When the shock was over, Julia was very dazed.

“My name is Julia,” she stuttered weakly, a few times.

Madame HYDRA was amazed by her strength.

“How is this even possible?”

Another shock went off, this time a few seconds longer. After it was finished, Julia’s body quivered. Sweat was dripping out of her pores while she could barely open her eyes.

“I’m Jul,” she muttered as she almost choked in her breath.

“Set it on one-hundred percent!” The Madame demanded Rudolf.

“But Madame, it will kill her.”

“Just do it!”

He obeyed and set the power level on one-hundred percent. With a slight hesitation he pushed the button again. This time Julia screamed out her life. The shock finished, and Julia went limp in the chair. The Madame went over to her and grabbed the teen’s jaw to make her face her.

Julia was unconscious but still breathing.


	19. Chapter 19

Earlier the day, Pepper Potts had arrived in a private cab in front of a facility in Dover, Delaware. 

The driver stepped out of the car and walked to the back to open the passenger door so Pepper could step out. Pepper thanked the driver and gave him a ten dollar tip. The driver smiled and nodded his head as a thank you.

The CEO of Stark Industries entered the building and walked towards a reception desk. An African man looked up at her.

“Hello, I have an appointment with Werner Reinhardt,” Pepper Potts announced as she gave the doorman her ID.

The doorman typed some information into the computer. Pepper looked around the bright white area as she waited. If it was up to her she would do all of this from her office. But the company insisted on inviting her to Dover.

“Yes, I see. You may walk through the security portals and take place in the waiting room. Miss Sarkissian will pick you up and guide you to the office of Mr. Reinhardt,” the doorman informed her while he gave back the ID.

Pepper thanked her with a smile and walked towards the security portal. She took a container and placed her belongings in it. While the tub went through the scanner, she walked through the metal detector. The alarm did not go off. The security guards smiled at her, which made her smile back. Once she recovered her belongings, she took a place in the waiting area. Once again she looked around in the massive area. In a distance she saw a green haired woman, wearing nearly the same black pencil dress as she had on. The woman was walking towards her.

“Miss Potts?” she called out with a Russian accent.

Still with a smile on her lips, Pepper rose from her seat and reached out a hand. They shook each other's hand.

“Welcome. I’m Ophelia Sarkissian. An honor to meet you.”

“Hi, nice to meet you too.”

“I will lead you to Mr. Reinhardt’s office. Please follow me.”

In his office, he was gazing from the window into the city life. He turned around as the sound of high heels filled the office.

“Ah, Miss Potts. Such an honor to meet you,” he exclaimed excitedly.

“The same, Mr. Reinhardt.”

They shook each other's hands. After that, the man gestured Pepper to a seat.

“Please, have a seat.”

Pepper took a seat in a leather armchair in front of his desk, while the slender man with short grey hair took place behind his desk.

“Thank you for your invite,” Pepper started. “I have read your information about the Particle Infusion Chamber, but…”

“Ah yes,” the man exclaimed as he cleaned his round glasses. “A fascinating object, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I have to agree. Although the Expo is already fully booked.”

The man sighed disappointed.

“But there will be another Stark Expo in five years and I will put this project on the list.”

“That would be an honor,” he stated as he laid a hand on his heart.

Then a security guard entered the office. He went to the man behind the desk and whispered in his ear. His face lifted up in excitement.

“That’s wonderful news,” the spectacled man exclaimed. “Ophelia, my darling. Give Miss Potts a fine glass of champagne. We have something to celebrate.”

He looked at Pepper and stood up from his chair. “Please, excuse me. It was nice meeting you. We will meet again.” He left the area, followed by the security.

“Such a gentleman,” Pepper complimented to The Madame.

Madame HYDRA walked to the mini bar and filled two glasses of champagne.

“Yes, he really is,” The Madame said as she sprinkled a powder in one of the glasses. With the glasses in her hands she went to Pepper. “Here, let’s have a toast.”

Pepper took the glass the Madame offered.

“In Russia we say; Davayte vsegda naslazhdat'sya zhizn'yu tak, kak my naslazhdayemsya etim bokalom shampanskogo.”

“Which means?” Pepper wondered, confused at what the green haired lady said.

“Let us always enjoy life the way we enjoy this glass of champagne.”

“That’s a nice saying,” Pepper smiled.

They clinked their glasses and took a sip.

“Your partner, Tony Stark, is a remarkable man with a great story,” The Madame shared as she turned around and walked to a large window, gazing outside. “Creating his first Iron Man suit, in a cave and out of scraps. Very fascinating.”

In the background she heard a thud. She turned around and saw Pepper laying on the floor, unconscious. The Madame smiled.

“It will be a pleasure to meet him.”

* * *

Natasha entered the meeting room of the Avengers’ compound with Bucky behind her. She took off her bloody gloves and threw them in a trash can with a sad sigh. Bucky dragged Clint into the room and placed him roughly on a chair, next to Tony. Steve stood at the other end of the long conference table. Next to him was Sam and Wanda. While eyeing Tony and Clint, Bucky took a seat next to Scott, while Natasha seated across Tony and Clint.

“Now what?” Tony snarled, who was out of his Iron Man suit and wore his high-tech glasses.

“We will wait for the agents of SHIELD first before I explain my plan,” Steve explained as he seated. “Also, they want to share some information about Whitehall.”

“I have things to do, Cap.” Tony exhaled a tired sigh.

“Like what?” Scott questioned, irritated.

“Saving the world from HYDRA. What else?” Tony mumbled with an eye-roll.

“Aren’t we doing that already? Saving somebody from HYDRA’s world?” Sam emphasized.

Then a teenage boy entered the meeting room. Everybody looked at him. Peter was wearing his Spiderman suit but without his mask.

“Uhm, hey everyone,” he greeted shyly while he fidgeted nervously with his mask in his hands.

“Well, too bad you couldn’t surprise us by bringing the Living Dead Girl here,” Tony remarked annoyed. “Or are you hiding her in your bedroom?”

Peter shook his head, feeling embarrassed in front of all The Avengers.

“It’s okay, kiddo. Have a seat,” Steve reassured.

Slowly Peter went to an empty chair close by Tony and sat down.

“Oh hey, speaking about that girl, those vibranium arrows you’ve made. They’re excellent,” Clint interrupted out of the blue as he tapped Tony’s arm.

“Really?” Tony replied amazed.

“Yeah, I could shoot it right through her chest!”

Everybody reacted in shock. Natasha had to cover her face and swallow a lump in her throat as she reminded the incident.

“You did WHAT?” Sam snapped as anger filled his veins.

“She nearly died, Clint!” Natasha yelled as she released herself.

“Holy shit!” Peter suddenly blurted out in shock and covered his mouth after he realized he said a bad word.

“Hey, she survived it anyways. Almost took my life,” the arrow man defended.

“I should have stayed with her,” Peter mumbled softly with guilt in his voice.

Tony quickly turned his head towards the teenager.

“You said, what?”

Peter internally panicked as he noticed what he just said and everybody became silent.

“Can you say that once again?” Tony asked after a moment of silence, not believing what he heard in the first place.

Peter bowed his head and sighed in shame. He knew he let down his mentor.

“I should have stayed with her,” he repeated.

Tony squeezed his eyes at him, again not believing what the boy just said. He tapped on the side of his glasses.

“FRIDAY, give me a lie-detection-scan on the last conversation on the comms between me and Peter Parker,” he demanded his AI.

“Yes Sir.”

Peter started to feel nervous while Tony was waiting for the results.

“He lied to you, Sir,” FRIDAY announced.

Anger boiled in Tony’s veins.

“Did you lie to me again, kid? WHY?” the billionaire called out angry.

“Because I know you would hurt her! You don’t know her as I do! But they do,” Peter shouted as he gestured to The Avengers. Some of them nodded.

“Why can’t you give yourself a chance to know her?”

The billionaire just kept on gazing at the outraged teenager.

“You know what, yes I did save her from falling out of the sky! Or else she would be dead! She doesn’t deserve to die, Mr. Stark!” the boy preached.

Tony folded his arms over his chest. He just looked at him, not interested in what Peter rambled.

Tears welled up in Peter’s eyes while he kept on ranting. But not just his eyes. The eyes of Natasha and Wanda teared up also. Bucky was thinking about Julia while the others just listened to Peter’s preaching.

“She deserved a peaceful life with good people around her. Her mother died. She never had a father who really loved her! She had a father who beat her when she did something wrong! When she buys the wrong beverage, he beats her! When she didn’t clean the house because she had too much homework, he beat her!”

Peter took a deep breath and continued again.

“I saw her being afraid for that man she grew up with. I felt heartbroken. I asked her to come with me and stay at Aunt May’s but she declined out of fear. And…”

“And you should be damned lucky she declined because she’s from HYDRA! She is a danger!” Tony interrupted in a loud voice.

Suddenly Bucky pounded his fists on the table as he rose from his seat.

“Enough!” he snapped loudly. There was a small crack in the glass tabletop from the smack of his metal fist. “Just shut up and listen to Steve!”

He dropped back in his chair and hid his face in his hands. He felt so stressed out. Scott laid a soothing hand on the soldier’s shoulder.

“Well, this is a nice welcome,” a female voice interrupted.

The Avengers looked up and saw Bruce with two young ladies behind him.

“Team, I want to introduce you to Daisy Johnson and Dr. Jemma Simmons of SHIELD,” Bruce announced. “They took care of Julia during her stay and can give us the information we need about Daniel Whitehall.”

“Welcome. Have a seat,” Steve said as he gestured to a chair. “Sorry for the commotion here.”

“It’s okay,” Daisy replied while she seated. “It shows how much you care about her.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, most of you.”

Bucky stared at Daisy. She felt him gazing and looked at him. Bucky gave her a small smile on his lips.

“Thank you for helping and taking care of her,” he nearly whispered.

“You’re welcome. She has a heart of gold.”

Bucky just nodded, knowing it was true.

“Doctor Simmons, can you explain who this Daniel Whitehall is?” Steve asked.

“Yes of course.”

Simmons took out a small tablet out of her bag, tapped on the screen and laid it on the middle of the table. A hologram of Whitehall’s picture and additional information came out of the device.

“He was born in Arnsberg, Germany on October 9th, 1904. He joined the Nazis and became an officer of the Schutzstaffel,” Simmons started explaining. “He rose through the ranks of the army and eventually joined HYDRA, the special science division led by Johann Schmidt.”

Bucky and Steve glanced at each other when she mentioned the name of Johann Schmidt.

“According to a report from 1945, his facility in Austria was attacked by a Strategic Scientific Reserve team and the Howling Commandos led by Peggy Carter, Jim Morita, and Dum Dum Dugan. He spent the next decades in a small cell in a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison.”

“Well done, guys,” Bucky mumbled into himself.

“In 1989 he was visited by two agents, who told him that he was free because Alexander Pierce gave him medical parole, citing that he had joined HYDRA under duress. As most of you know, Pierce was a member of HYDRA,” Simmons continued. Some of The Avengers nodded. “He dropped his name and a year later, Daniel Whitehall surfaced.”

A short silence. Sam was the first who broke it.

“So we have to chase an old grandpa now?”

“No, he was able to use my mother’s Inhumans DNA and organs to physically regress himself back to his middle-age and halt his aging,” Daisy explained.

“Okay, I want to make something clear. He had another identity before being Daniel Whitehall?” Scott asked, confused.

“Correct,” Simmons stated.

“So, what was his name in the first place?”

“Werner Reinhardt.”

Suddenly Tony gasped and his eyes widened in fear. Everybody looked at him. He stood up and stumbled to the other side of the room. Bruce followed him. Tony was leaning against a wall as he was taking deep breaths with a hand on his chest.

“Panic attack?” Bruce wondered. Tony could only nod. “How come?”

“Pepper is meeting a Werner Reinhardt today,” he shared after a deep breath. He looked at the team. “We have to rescue her.”

“We will, Tony,” Steve reassured. “Any idea where she went?” Steve asked.

“She told me she was going to Dover, Delaware,” Tony explained as he walked back to his seat.

“There is a HYDRA facility in Dover, Delaware. Their laboratories are located there,” Daisy remarked.

Steve rose up from his seat.

“Okay we know a place where we have to look. All we have to do is wait where he’ll bring Julia.”

“What if he takes Julia somewhere else?” Natasha asked.

“Then we’ll split up the team and rescue them separately. But for now we have to wait.”

Tony became impatiently.

“If it was up to me I would have rescued Pepper already. Why is this girl from HYDRA so important?”

“Because we can give her what she missed. A family she can trust, a safe home,” Steve explained. “We can keep her here in safety until she’s able to move to Wakanda. Bucky and Sam have a connection with her and can calm her when she’s in anxiety and panic.”

Tony looked suspicious to Bucky. The former Winter Soldier could not look at him and stared at the crack in the table. His mind was absent.

“They are both victims of HYDRA, Tony,” Steve added. “Bucky can help her escape from them.”

“Sure. Fine. Whatever,” Tony sighed as he rolled his eyes.

Simmons and Daisy were eyeing each other, when their suspicion was confirmed. Tony Stark didn’t like Julia.

* * *

Agent Elslander arrived in her furnished apartment in Bruges, Belgium. She dropped her bags and collapsed on the couch, releasing a tired sigh. She knew that if she closed her eyes, she would fall asleep. Then her cell phone went off. Without looking at the screen she picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hey Wilma,” a male voice greeted. “Did you arrive safely?”

A smile on her lips when she recognized the voice.

“Hi Phil. I just arrived in my apartment. Just very tired from traveling. How are you? Enjoying your spare time already?”

“Yes, I do. I have visited an old friend and now I’m cleaning my apartment which was really needed.”

“Heard anything from Julia?” the mother wondered.

She felt an hesitation at the other side of the line, which made her nervous. She fiddled at the collar of her blouse.

“Jemma had contact with Bruce Banner, an hour ago. Something happened,” Coulson sighed. “HYDRA ambushed the compound.”

Elslander’s heart dropped into her stomach.

“Oh no.”

“They took Julia away.”

“Oh my God, Phil! We have to find her!” she panicked.

“The Avengers will find her,” he reassured. “Daisy and Jemma are on their way to the compound to help them.”

She stood up rapidly and started pacing through the living room.

“Anything we can do? Do I have to come back?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, there is nothing you can do. Both of us have to wait and hope they’ll find her. Daisy will keep in contact with me and I’ll keep you up to date.”

“Okay. Thank you for your call,” she stuttered, as she took a seat at her dinner table.

“Will you be alright?” Coulson asked worriedly.

Elslander took a deep breath, while fighting against her tears.

“Yes. Yes, I’ll be fine. I’m going to bed now.”

Then she disconnected the call and burst into tears.

* * *

She opened her eyes and in a blur she saw dark surroundings. She felt she was in a bed. Slowly Julia sat up and ignored the stabs of pain in her body. Her head was drowsy and empty, she couldn’t remember anything about what happened. She discovered several stickers on her chest and a needle in her upper hand with a long tube. She followed the tube with her eyes and saw an almost empty sack with blue fluids, hanging on a pole. With her other hand she reached out to the needle. Suddenly her body cramped. After a few seconds the cramp was over and she collapsed back into the mattress. Then she felt a tiny stab in her leg.

Slowly Julia lost consciousness.


	20. Chapter 20

Bucky placed his armor on his suit. When he looked up he saw Steve staring at a large screen that showed a map and a flickering dot.

“Are they still driving?” Bucky asked worriedly.

“No, there is no motion for over an hour and a half now.”

“They are driving, but slowly,” Natasha mentioned as she was looking at her smartphone.

Both Bucky and Steve gave her a questioning look.

“It looks like they are parking the car.”

Both men were confused.

“How do you know?” Bucky wondered.

“I had the feeling that placing the GPS in the stuffed animal wasn’t enough. So I placed a GPS underneath the hood of the car as well,” Natasha explained.

The men smiled at her.

“Natasha, you’re a genius,” Steve said in admiration.. “Can you tell us where she is now?”

“I take your telling and raise it with my showing,” Natasha replied while tapping a few times on the screen. Daisy and Jemma gazed over Natasha’s shoulder, who zoomed in the map and a very detailed image appeared.

“That’s the facility of HYDRA in Delaware,” Jemma informed them. “I have worked there on an undercover mission.”

“We know the location and know they are together. Let’s go and save them,” Steve announced.

* * *

Rudolf, one of HYDRA’s scientists, made notes on a notepad while Julia lay unconscious in a hospital bed. She was hooked up to several kinds of machines. He looked at the sac of blue fluids and saw it was almost empty. Leaving the area, he went into the secure storage room next door, which had several glazed fridges with Terrigen Crystals. Rudolf passed them by as he went to another kind of fridge, from which he retrieved another sac with blue fluids. Returning to the room with it, he saw Julia sitting up, reaching out to the IV in her hand. Reaching into a pocket of his lab coat, Rudolf retrieved a remote control. When he pushed the single button on it, Julia’s body was hit with a heavy cramp. . While getting out a syringe with his other hand, Rudolf released the button, which caused Julia collapsing back on the mattress like a limp ragdoll. Wasting no time, Rudolf jabbed the needle into her leg before having a relieved sigh. In the next moment, he heard the tell-tale “click-clack” of high heels coming up to him.

“Is the subject ready?”

“Almost, Madame. I am now giving her an extra container of the Super Soldier Serum. However, the X-rays shows the Adamantium in her bones isn't as strong as expected,” Rudolf reported.

“What do you mean by that?” she snarled, confused.

“I investigated it and turned out the sample we have used is outdated. It isn’t as strong as it should be. Although she can’t break any bone.”

Anger rose into the Madame’s veins.

“But for this mission she is strong enough,” Rudolf reassured her.

Madame HYDRA walked closer to him.

“I hope you are right,” she hissed in his face before turning on her heel and marching away.

* * *

In the meantime, both Avengers and SHIELD agents made their way to the QuinJet. Captain America, walking next to Spiderman, noticed that the young Avenger was tense.

“Nervous?” the leader asked.

The boy nodded.

“I’m scared she’s changed too much in the meantime,” the teen admitted.

“I’m sorry for saying this, but there is a large possibility she will be another person. We know for sure HYDRA did brainwash her and wiped her memories,” the Captain sighed. “Just remember: our mission is to rescue her and bring her into safety. When she feels safe, we can bring her to Wakanda.”

Peter blinked, confused.

“Waa-wo-where?”

“Wakanda, a place in Africa. With their advanced technology, they can cure her of all the trauma she’s been through. They already did the same to Bucky.”

Peter just nodded as the Captain finished his explanation, hoping deep down that this strange, unknown place Steve mentioned would really help Julia, somehow.

Some steps behind them were Daisy Johnson and Jemma Simmons. All of a sudden, Jemma grabbed Daisy’s arm.

“Oh my god, can you believe this?” she asked excitedly, in a whisper.

“Believe what?” Daisy whispered, confused.

“We’re so close to Steve Rogers! Captain America! Peggy Carter’s love interest!”

Daisy rolled her eyes slightly and moved Jemma’s hand off her arm.

“Can you maybe stop fangirling and concentrate on this mission?” Daisy said, annoyed.

Jemma frantically nodded her head and bit her lower lip to restrain herself. At last, the team arrived at the QuinJet, and Bucky went closer to Simmons and Daisy.

“Actually, Peggy Carter was the love interest of Steve,” he corrected Simmons.

Simmons' eyes widened as she noticed he had heard her enthusiasm. There was a naughty smirk on Bucky’s face, while Jemma blushed fiercely before looking away from him. Daisy next to her just smiled in malicious pleasure at the two.

The team stepped into the jet and arranged themselves around a situation table in the middle of the aircraft. A digital map of the facility appeared.

“As you can see, this is HYDRA’s facility in Dover, Delaware. In this wing, on the South side of the building, are the offices. On the 25th floor is the office of Daniel Whitehall,” Jemma explained as she tapped on the screen to enlarge the spaces.

Everybody listened to her in serious concentration. She tapped again on the screen.

“In the West wing from the 18th till the 20th floor are the laboratories. Perhaps they keep more Terrigen Crystals there.”

“Any idea where they can keep Pepper and Julia hostage?” Steve questioned.

Simmons released a worried sigh and shook her head.

“Okay team, listen up. They could be anywhere in the building,” Steve announced. “Jemma and Bruce, you stay here in the QuinJet. Make sure you can track each team and their surroundings by the radar and the comms. Also be prepared for medical requirements.”

The two medics nodded at the Captain.

“Sam, you go with Wanda and take the West wing. Daisy and Bucky, you go with Sam and Wanda,” the Captain ordered. “I’m going with Clint, Natasha and Tony to the other side.” He turned to Scott and Peter. “Guys, I want you to guard the QuinJet.”

“Yes, Captain,” Scott saluted, while Peter just nodded.

“Once again, we don’t know what state Julia is in. She could be worse than last time. Just keep wearing your gloves. When you find her or Pepper, bring them to the QuinJet safely. Wait until the whole team is complete so we all can go home, safe and sound.” Steve looked at Jemma and Daisy. “Anything else?”

“There is a possibility the people who are working there are gifted with powers,” Daisy warned.

“Also, if you find a blue crystal, don’t touch it!” Simmons added. “It can eventually kill you.”

“Okay, I assume we’re all ready to bring them home,” Steve said.

Everybody except for Tony and Clint nodded in understanding.

Steve looked at the two men.

“I know both of you have access to her trigger words. I order you not to use them.”

Clint slightly rolled his eyes at the Captain and took his place behind the wheel with Natasha and started the engines. The QuinJet was ready to lift up into the air after leaving the hangar. Tony just stared at Steve with an arrogant expression.

“Did you even listen?” Steve wondered aloud.

“Yes, it just takes me a while to process so much stupid all at once,” Tony sneered back at him.

Steve could barely restrain a sigh while he didn’t believe what he heard.

“Everybody, take your seat for take-off. We will arrive in Dover within 45 minutes,” Clint announced.

The Avengers listened and took a seat. While walking to their places, Peter glanced at Tony, who didn't look at him. Instead, Tony locked gazes with Clint via the rearview mirror. A slight nod from both men followed. 

* * *

She opened her eyes and blinked a few times to clear her view. She felt her hands were tied by metal clasps. When Pepper looked up, she saw a large television in front of her with a green digital face on it.

“Potts, Virginia. Born 1972,” the face said with a German accent.

“Is this a recording?” Pepper asked, confused that the digital image knew her birth name.

“I am not, Fräulein. I am Dr. Arnim Zola, HYDRA’s greatest scientist,” the program introduced. “Once I was a person. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, was worth saving.”

Pepper listened to him with an open mouth, in amazement.

“Oh my, who did this to you?”

“It was done by scientists of HYDRA that I have recruited.”

“How do you know my birth name?” she wondered.

“I can access every computer system without being noticed. FBI, CIA, SHIELD, the government, everywhere,” Zola explained.

Pepper looked to the side as a door opened and a few people came into the room.

“Bach, Rudolf Benedict. Born 1946,” Zola introduced them. “Reinhardt, Werner. Born 1904. Now known as Daniel Whitehall. And Berger, Juliana Wilhelmina. Born 2001. Destroyer of Lives.”

The group of people stopped and surrounded her. Pepper was slightly shocked when she looked at Julia and recognized her name from stories she had heard from both Tony and Peter.

“You’re the girl Tony and Peter talked about.”

The teen girl narrowed her green-grey eyes at Pepper suspiciously. She couldn’t remember this woman, nor the names Tony and Peter.

“I see you are already informed about our special weapon. She is pretty, isn’t she?” Whitehall indicated as he trailed his bare fingers over Julia’s cheek.

The teenager smiled as his skin touched hers. She still wore the collar that prevented her from using her powers. 

“A perfect bait to get the Avengers here, so we can finish them once and for all.”

Whitehall walked to Pepper and stood still in front of her. He stroked her cheek as well.

“And so are you.”

Pepper moved her head away from his hand.

“Also I want you to work with us together, Miss Potts,” Whitehall offered, after he huffed a smile. “I want you to be a valued member of our organization. Perhaps you could be a great assistant for me like you are for Tony Stark.”

“No, thank you. I’m busy enough with my own business,” Pepper reacted with irritation.

Whitehall smiled and took a step aside. Rudolf took his place. The scientist placed some strips of tape above and beneath Pepper’s eyes to keep them open. Additionally, a metal brace was fitted around her head to prevent her from moving.

“What are you doing?” Pepper panicked. “What’s going to happen?”

Julia looked confused at the actions and wondered why they would treat her like that.

“Take a deep breath. Calm your mind. You know what is best. What is best is you comply,” Whitehall spoke to her in a hypnotic tone.

“Comply to who?”

On the television Arnim Zola changed into colorful hypnotic images.

“Surrender and you will find meaning. Surrender and you will find release,” Whitehall continued.

“Oh god, these images just make me nauseous. Can you please stop?” Pepper begged, but everybody in the room ignored her.

Julia started to stare at the beauty of Pepper, while Whitehall was doing his act. The teen was even wondering why The Sir was talking like that to the redhead lady.

Then a HYDRA agent entered the area, taking the attention of everyone except for Julia.

“Sir, my apologies for interrupting but more Terrigen Crystals have been found,” he announced after he saluted.

“Such great news,” Whitehall exclaimed. “Dr. Bach, would you and our savior bring these crystals into safety?”

“Yes Sir. Hail HYDRA,” Rudolf saluted and went to leave the room..

When Rudolf noticed Julia didn’t follow him, he turned around and gazed at her. She was still staring at Pepper. His hand went into his lab coat and pressed briefly on a button of a remote control. Julia’s body shot into a cramp and collapsed limp to the floor.

“Oh my god! What are you doing to her?” Pepper called out worried as she saw it happening from the corner of her eye.

“Just a small punishment for disobeying,” Whitehall explained. “Take her away, wipe her instead and place her back into her cell until battle,” he commanded the security team.

The agents present went over, picked up her slouched body and dragged her out of the area. Pepper could see it all happening from the corner of her eye. She felt pity for the teenage girl.

While walking through the facility, the agents restrained Julia. Next, they approached a lady who had orange and black striped hair, and a blond man. The man had a briefcase in his hands and opened it when Rudolf asked for it. In the briefcase were twenty Terrigen Crystals.

“Beautiful,” the doctor remarked before he closed it. “Follow me.”

All of them walked to a door with a yellow-black electrical shock hazard sign. Rudolf punched a code into the security lock and the door opened. Julia looked up with a fascinatinated expression on her face as she saw the blue glowing area. Rudolf glanced at her and noticed her amazement.

“Release her,” he ordered the agent.

After being released, Julia followed Rudolf into the storage room. She looked around the blue glooming area in amazement.

“These are the crystals who gave you the new life,” Rudolf explained as he placed the new crystals in a special glazed fridge with tongs. “Most of our agents in this facility have experienced Terrigenesis and gained remarkable powers.”

Closing the fridge door, Rudolf continued.

“They also heal you from certain wounds, which isn’t even necessary for you anymore. HYDRA created you perfectly,” he continued as he gazed back at Julia. “Now let’s leave.”

Out of nowhere, an agent ran up to them when Rudolf and Julia arrived back in the hallway.

“Sir, there is an incoming aircraft. We believe it’s the Avengers. The Madame demanded to prepare the Destroyer of Lives for battle!” he reported while panting.

The scientist nodded at the agent. Then, he gestured to the agent to grab Julia and to follow him. They entered another room. Without any further direct order, the agent immediately restrained Julia and threw her roughly into the Memory Suppressing Machine, while she was protesting a little bit. Before she knew it she received an electronic shock in her body that made her limp in the seat. Metal clasps went on the side of her head and a shock from the machine rushed through her body to empty her mind.

“Zhelaniye, chetvertyy…”


	21. Chapter 21

Sam and Wanda were walking through the hallways of HYDRA’s facility, after they had been separated from the team. Sam pointed his weapon into every doorway while Wanda was walking behind him, searching for Julia in her own way.

“I can feel her presence,” Wanda announced.

“That’s good,” Sam replied, feeling relieved.

“But she’s not in her own mind.”

He mumbled a curse as he pointed his weapon into a lab. He pulled back when he didn’t see anybody in there.

“This place is just like Austria. Too quiet,” Sam acknowledged.

They arrived at a T-junction, which annoyed Sam, since it wasn’t the first they’d bumped into.

“Damn, it’s like a labyrinth in here.” He looked at Wanda. “Can you feel where she is?”

The Scarlet Witch shook her head no as she gazed worriedly at him.

“Then we have to split up again,” Sam sighed, bothered. “I’ll go left.”

“Okay. I’ll let you know over the comms when I’ve found her,” Wanda agreed.

They split up with Sam going left and Wanda going right.. Slowly, Sam walked through the other hallway, pointing his weapon into yet another unknown area. It turned out to be one of the testing labs, where an unconscious Julia was strapped to the memory-suppressing machine.. 

“Oh no,” he muttered, as he quickly made his way to her.

Sam unstrapped her from the chair and laid her carefully on the concrete floor. He noticed the inhibitor collar around her neck and knew she was rendered powerless by that.

“Julia,” he called her with a soft voice while he shook at her shoulder, in an attempt to wake her up. “Wake up, Julia.”

She remained unconscious and it did upset Sam a lot. It reminded him of finding her severely wounded in HYDRA’s facility in Austria. He wanted to check her pulse but the collar, a different and bigger version than she previously wore, covered her whole neck. He tried to pull at it to create some space to check her pulse, when all of a sudden an electronic shock shook the bodies of both Julia and Sam.

He collapsed to the floor when the shock was over and panted in pain. While he tried to get up, he glanced at Julia. Out of the blue, Julia grabbed Sam’s throat, threw him down and arm-locked him.

“Julia? It’s me. Sam,” he gasped.

“You're my mission,” Julia growled into his ear.

By the tone in her voice, Sam knew for sure she wasn’t herself. It broke his heart. Because of the collar he couldn’t touch her and wake her up from the evil state.

“I'm not going to fight you, Julia. You're our friend,” he tried to change her mind.

Julia tightened her arm around his neck and started to choke him. Gasping for air, he had no choice but to hurt her. With a trembling hand, he took his gun and shot Julia in the leg. The bullet grazed her hip and the brainwashed teen screamed out her pain while she let Sam go. Quickly he stood up and looked guilty at the hurting girl.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized.

With a scream, Julia lashed out at Sam in anger and pinned him to the ground. She then mercilessly punched Sam repeatedly across the face. Somehow, Sam managed to grab her wrist and held it firmly. He saw her green-grey eyes filled with hate, another proof that she was brainwashed.

“Stop it, Julia. This isn’t you,” he begged her.

With his free hand he reached out and cupped her cheek. Her eyes went bigger as she looked at him when he touched her face.

“Remember me? It’s me. Sam.”

“Shut up!” she yelled and tore his left hand off her cheek.

She held his left wrist firmly enough that they both the bones grinding. Sam gritted his teeth as pain went through his hand.

“The Avengers are your friends, Julia. We give you love, protection and support,” he said, still trying to break through the brainwashing.

She looked at Sam in surprise as if she was startled to remember those words. Not said by him, but by somebody else.

“We can promise you that. Not HYDRA,” he reassured the teen.

Then, suddenly, he noticed her green-grey eyes starting to blaze red. Julia let go of Sam’s hand, squeezed her eyes shut and grasped her head. Sam wondered what was going on inside of her. Then she dropped her head on his chest and cried out her misery.

“Julia? Are you… you?” Sam wondered.

Julia looked up at him with green, teary eyes. Sam exhaled relieved when he finally saw the original color of her eyes. Right then, Wanda came up running.

“I had the feeling something went wrong. I came as fast as I could,” she said while panting. “But I had trouble on my way. Soldiers of HYDRA are active now.”

“Thank you for the warning,” Sam reacted while he and Julia got back on their feet.

When Sam was finally standing, he immediately put a finger on the comms in his ear..

“Guys, we’ve found Julia,” he reported.

“Good work, Sam. Bring her to the Quinjet as fast as you can,” he heard Steve. “As soon as we have found Pepper, we leave.”

Sam turned to Julia and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“You have to fight HYDRA. They’ll come for you as well.”

“No, no I can’t. I can’t fight,” the teen panicked while shaking her head no.

“Yes you can, Julia. Listen carefully to me. You are an Avenger.”

“No, Sam, I’m not,” Julia started to sob.

He held her firmly by the shoulders.

“Yes you are. It doesn’t matter what you did or what you were.”

The teen started to fight against her tears and gazed into Sam’s eyes. She tried to hear and smell the environment she’s in.

“Also, if they tell you to move, you look them in the eye and say; No, you move,” he kept on telling her in a stern voice. “And when they bring you down, you always stand up and fight. Is that clear?”

Julia nodded at him as she tried to calm herself down.

“Come on. Let’s go,” Sam said as he took her hand and they started running.

Sam, Wanda and Julia ran as fast as they could through the empty hallways. Gunshots were heard somewhere else in the building.

“Wanda, can you feel Pepper’s presence?” Sam asked while running.

“Yes I can and she’s with somebody else.”

“Who’s Pepper?” Julia wondered.

“Tony’s girlfriend,” Sam answered.

Suddenly the teen stopped in her tracks, remembering a redhead being tied up and mentioning Tony’s name. She also recalled Whitehall being with her, saying some kind of poem to her. Her eyes widened in fear and Sam noticed it.

“This isn’t the time for an anxiety attack, Julia. We need to bring you to the QuinJet,” Sam said with panic lacing his voice..

“The Sir,” Julia whispered. “He’s brainwashing her.” She looked into Sam’s dark eyes. “I need to save this Pepper. And I have to do this alone.”

“What are you talking about? Why do you want to go alone?” Sam asked her, confused.

“To show Tony I’m not a bad person and only I can convince The Sir that he’s doing something wrong.”

Right then, an explosion somewhere else in the building startled them.

“Those are not bombs. I can feel somebody is creating these explosions. We have to go,” Wanda warned.

But before they could move on, Julia screamed out in pain and sank to the floor. Sam was able to catch her before she hit the concrete floor. He got confused when he felt a warm wetness coming from her back and looked at his fingers. Blood.

Wanda looked into the other side of the hallway and saw Rudolf, one of the scientists, holding a gun with a silencer.. With her powers, Wanda was able to lift him up from the floor and strangle him. Slowly and with caution, she went closer to him, giving Rudolf the angriest look she could muster.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place. Hail HYDRA!" the scientist saluted and started to foam at his mouth.

Wanda hoovered him down on the floor before releasing him from her powers. The man fell unconscious and slowly, his skin went pale. Heaving a defeated sigh, the witch went back to Julia and Sam.

“He’s dead,” Wanda informed them.

“I swear, Bucky will get mad if I announce she’s been shot,” Sam lamented while he finally succeeded in stopping the bleeding of Julia's injury.

“Bucky?” Julia stuttered in a painful moan. “He’s here?”

Sam could only nod at her. He gathered all his courage and once again, he put a finger on the comms.

“Update, Julia has been shot.”

“Bring her to the QuinJet as fast as you can,” he heard once again, this time from Simmons. “Dr. Banner and I will set things up for surgery immediately.”

“Roger that,” he confirmed.

Wanda knelt down next to the young victim, but turned to Sam.

“I’ll remove the bullet from the wound. Let her sit up straight.”

Sam did what Wanda asked , and helped the wounded teen sit up. Julia wrapped her arms around his neck and steadied herself that way. Once more, Wanda’s hand began to glow red, and she held it over the wound, while Sam kept Julia calm by stroking her upper arms. The teen could feel the tingle of the hex bolts, but it didn’t bother her.

“It’s out,” Wanda announced when the bullet came out of the other women’s body and dropped on the floor.

“The control device. It’s still in me,” the teen reminded them. “You need to get it out with your powers.”

Wanda looked in concern at Sam and so did he. Both were scared of losing her again.

“But Bruce said…” Wanda said but got interrupted.

“Wanda, please do it or else they’ll keep controlling me,” Julia begged.

The two adults looked at each other again. Finally, Sam nodded. Reluctantly, Wanda placed her glowing hand over the wound again and started to use her powers. Once again, Julia felt the hex bolts tingling around the injury. After a few seconds there was no movement.

“Use more power,” Julia advised and the Scarlet Witch did what she wanted.

It started to hurt, but Julia had learned from her training to hide her pain. Sam got worried as he noticed it, though, knowing very well that she was hiding her pain.

“I can’t get it out. It’s too stuck,” Wanda panicked.

“Give it everything you’ve got!” Julia said with a clenched jaw.

“But…”

“Do it! It’s our only chance!” the teen demanded.

Wanda now used both of her hands and gave everything she had to take out the control device from Julia’s spine. In the distance, Julia suddenly heard footsteps of a group of boots approaching. She looked up and saw shadows of people at the end of the hallway, coming up behind Wanda. She grabbed Sam’s attention and he glanced into the same direction she was looking at.

“Incoming!” Sam announced when he saw the soldiers coming around the corner and tapped the notepad on the sleeve of his suit.

From the back of Sam’s Falcon jet pack, a small drone, named Redwing, launched and flew towards the incoming soldiers, shooting them down one by one. Afterwards, the small technical sidekick dropped an electrical charged net on the wounded men, electrocuting them

Over Sam’s shoulders, Julia saw another group of soldiers coming in. With a trembled hand she grabbed a gun from Sam’s holster and shot at them, until an unbearable pain came from her back and took over her whole body. Gritting her teeth, she moaned loudly and dropped the gun. Right then, Sam spread out his wings to block gunfire from the enemies, while tapping another command into the notepad of his sleeve. Seconds later, a small missile came flying towards this group of soldiers, blowing them away.

Julia felt her spine cracking while intolerable pain took over her body.

“Don’t stop, Wanda!” she cried out in agony. “It’s working!”

Seconds later, a thin plastic wire emerged from her injury and dropped into Wanda’s hand. With a grunt, the teen slumped down into Sam’s arms, panting in pain. Sam laid her on the floor gently.

The Scarlet Witch handed the wire to Sam, who began to investigate it, and turned back to Julia. “I’ll close up your wound.”

And so, for the third time in short succession, Wanda held her hands over the teen’s gunshot wound, using her magic to knit the skin and the tissue back together.

In the meantime, Sam was still investigating the bloody wire in his hand. Amazed that such a small thing could take control over an entire body, he placed it in a tiny plastic bag then in the pocket of his suit.

“I’ll show it to Simmons, once we're back at the jet. Maybe they will know what else it can do,” he said.

Turning his attention back to Julia, Sam couldn’t help but worry when he saw that the young woman was barely conscious due to the pain. He crouched down next to her and put a hand on her cheek, which caused Julia to open her eyes slowly.

“You’re almost free from their control,” he reassured her with a smile.

Another explosion occurred in the building.

“It’s the same person,” Wanda said.

“We have to go. Come on, you need to get up,” Sam said while trying to help Julia get back on her feet.

“I can’t, Sam.”

“Why not?”

Julia looked down at her legs and tried to move them. Wanda could feel what was wrong and fear began to spread her face.

“I can’t feel or move my legs,” Julia mumbled.

Sam looked at her in shock. Then he noticed the terror on Wanda’s face as tears welled up in her eyes. He placed his arms underneath Julia’s legs and shoulders, ready to lift her up.

“I’ll carry you.”

“No. Please. Please leave,” Julia whispered, her voice a mix of urgence and desperation.

Sam stopped what he was doing and gave the hurting teen an equally desperate look.

“There are Terrigen Crystals nearby. I can be cured by them,” Julia explained. “After that I will go to The Sir and Pepper.”

“Then let me take you to these Crystals,” Sam offered, to which Julia agreed.

With some effort and even more carefulness, Sam was able to lift her up in bridal style. Luckily she could move her arms and wrapped them around his neck.

“Which way?” he asked.

“The crystals are down the hall,” Julia directed him.

The Avengers went into the given direction. They arrived at a door with a yellow-black electrical shock hazard sign, whichhad a coded security lock. With a blast of her power, Wanda was able to break the lock and cause the door to open, if only slightly. . Stepping into the doorway, Sam could open the door further with a gentle kick. Seeing all the powerful crystals, which gave the room a cool blue glow, the two Avengers only could stare at it in amazement.

“Wow,” Sam whispered wide-eyed.

He had never seen these Crystals before, except on the video of Tony and was amazed by the amount he saw now. Wanda, on the other hand, got a bad tingle racing up her spine by only looking at them.

“Leave me here. It isn’t safe for you to go in the room and to stay here,” Julia recommended.

“She’s right. I can feel so much power in this room,” Wanda acknowledged.

Sam gently laid Julia in the doorway. He then removed the comms from his ear.

“Promise me you’ll call us when you find Pepper?” he asked as he placed his comms in Julia’s ear.

The teen smiled and held out her pinkie.

“I promise.”

Sam smiled and wrapped his little finger around hers.

“Now please go and help the others,” the teen almost begged.

Sam leaned over and kissed her forehead.

“Be careful,” he said quietly and stood up, ready to leave.

His words and actions confused Julia, causing a sick feeling, compared with fear, spreading in her guts.  _ Is this… love? _ Wanda noticed her troubled thoughts and knelt down in front of her.

“He means well, Julia. No harm,” she tried to calm her down.

Deep inside of her, Julia knew Wanda was right. Wanda slightly squeezed Julia’s shoulder to calm her and gave her a soothing smile, before she got up on her feet. Then they went off.

When Sam and Wanda were out of her view, Julia crawled towards a glassed fridge filled with the Terrigen Crystals. Arriving there, she managed to open the door before starting to pull herself up using the sides of the fridge. With sheer willpower, the teen got her paralyzed legs to work enough to let her reach out for one of the crystals. But right that moment, her other hand slipped on the glass, causing her to slide back to the floor. Julia then did the only logic thing - she grabbed the rack with the crystals and pulled it down with her. Some of the crystals broke apart when they crashed to the floor, causing the whole room to fill with a grey mist. In the distance, she could hear gunshots, but all of Julia’s attention was on her legs. Watching the Terrigen mist covering them, she willed it to work, to give her her legs back.

Then her world went black.

***

In the meantime at the other side of the west wing, Bucky and Daisy were walking through the hallways. They arrived at a crossroad.

“What a surprise, another split,” Daisy sighed sarcastic. “Shall we get separated again?”

“No,” Bucky blurted out. “I’ll never leave a teammate alone. That’s my own safety protocol.”

“I understand. So which way shall we go?”

Bucky was silent as he was glancing in both directions. After a few seconds, Daisy got impatient.

“Well?”

“Sorry, I was doing ‘eeny, meeny, miny, moe’ in my head. This way,” he said as he turned to the right side.

They went to the right. Bucky looked into every doorway, open window, and corridor while Daisy was walking behind him.

“This hallway looks clear to me,” Daisy said.

“I don’t trust this,” Bucky mumbled as he aimed his weapon in a doorway. “It’s probably a set up. They did this in Austria as well. There may be a surprise committee, coming up any moment.”

All of a sudden, they heard the distinct sounds of heavy boots hitting the ground running behind them. Looking up, Bucky and Daisy saw three HYDRA soldiers running towards them. Quickly, Daisy spread out her hands into the direction of the soldiers. A powerful wave of vibrating air came out of her hand palms and blew them away. With the intruders smacked on the ground, she turned to face Bucky, who looked at her with big eyes in amazement.

“What the…?” he whispered.

“Surprise, I’m an Inhuman too. A victim to the Terrigen Crystals, just like Julia,” Daisy explained.

Right then, Sam’s voice came over the comms.

“Guys, we’ve found Julia.”

As soon as Bucky heard her name, he froze in place and listened carefully.

“Good work, Sam. Bring her to the Quinjet as fast as you can,” they heard Steve. “As soon as we have found Pepper, we leave.”

“Thank goodness,” Bucky exhaled, relieved.

Daisy could see the relief written on his face.. It satisfied her to see he really cared about Julia.

“Happy to hear she’s been found?”

Suddenly Bucky heard more boots in the background as they came closer.

“Incoming,” he announced while turning around and pointing his weapon in the direction of the sound.

From their other side, more HYDRA soldiers arrived and Daisy pointed her gun at them. They stood back to back and started shooting at the soldiers. As the enemies kept coming, Daisy alternated between shooting them and using her power.

“There’s too many,” Bucky informed Daisy.

“I have an idea, but I need a minute,” Daisy suggested. “Keep on shooting.”

Quickly, she placed her gun back into the holster and took a step aside. Next to her, Bucky dropped his machine gun and grabbed two smaller guns from the holsters on his hips. He started shooting at both sides while Daisy began to form a ball of energy between her hands.

“What are you doing?” Bucky questioned as he kept on shooting at the soldiers, hitting them one by one.

Daisy remained silent, opting on focusing her power at the growing energy ball in her hand instead. Around them, more and more soldiers came towards them, seemingly from all directions now.

“Whatever you’re doing, you better hurry up!” Bucky warned.

When the gunmen were finally close enough, she suddenly split the energy in two, and projected a wide battering ram of force at each of their enemies. All the soldiers got blown away and were knocked out by the large airwave. After the blow, Daisy dropped to her knees. She felt exhausted, not exactly used to such an outburst of her powers.

“Are you okay?” Bucky asked worried as he knelt next to her.

Daisy nodded but before she could answer a wall exploded, just a few feet away from them. They covered their heads with their arms to protect themselves from dirt and smoke. When the air cleared, Bucky and Daisy looked up - and saw a young man standing among the mess. He picked up a brick, which started to glow in his hand, and threw it towards Daisy and Bucky.

“Look out!” Bucked warned before punching it with his metal fist.

In the air, the brick exploded. Shocked, they looked at the young man.

“Inhuman?” Bucky asked.

“Yup,” Daisy replied.

The Inhuman made a move to pick up another brick, but Daisy was able to blow him away with her power, causing him to land on the floor several feet away. Quickly, he got to his feet, picked up a larger piece of debris and held it above his head. Once again, it began to glow in his hands, and the next moment, he threw it in their direction. Daisy wanted to use her powers but in a quick reaction, Bucky pushed her aside before jumping back from the path of the flying object. The piece crashed to the floor and exploded, leaving a massive hole in the concrete between Daisy and Bucky. Out of the corner of her eye, Daisy saw the unknown Inhuman running towards her. She shot an airwave out of her hand and blew him to the other side of the hallway. Then Sam’s voice filled their ears again.

“Update, Julia has been shot,” they heard over the comms.

They looked at each other in shock. Daisy could see the sadness and anger ooze into Bucky’s eyes. The update triggered him into a memory of when Julia got wounded by Pierce.

“Bring her to the Quinjet as fast as you can,” they heard Simmons. “Dr. Banner and I will set things up for surgery immediately.”

Bucky clenched both his fist and jaw as the memory angered him once more.

“Bucky?”

He looked up at Daisy when his thoughts were interrupted by her concerned voice.

“Go. She needs you. I’ll finish up here.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, worried as he reminded himself about what he had told her earlier.

“Yes. Now hurry up!”

Bucky picked up his machine gun and ran off, hoping to find Julia alive.

Daisy turned around and saw the Inhuman walking towards her. She ran up to him and jumped, kicking him in the chest, followed by a high kick aiming at his head. But the man was able to grab her leg before she could hit him. He swung Daisy away, smacking her into the nearest wall. Getting back on her feet and into a fighting position, Daisy was waiting for his attack.

But instead, the Inhuman placed his hand on a pillar in the middle of the aisle. Feeling her heart thumping wild in her chest, Daisy realized her opponent's intentions and dashed forward in an attempt to interrupt him. Right then, the pillar exploded, knocking her back with a strong and fiery blast. Subsequently, the force sent Daisy flying through a wall and into the darkness outside, where Earth’s gravitation took over. While falling, she was able to slow her descent with a wave of her power. Carefully, she landed on the asphalt on her stomach. Lying on the pathway, Daisy took a moment to catch her breath and come to terms with the situation.

“That was close,” she panted.

In the meantime, the Inhuman gazed out of the gap and saw Daisy lying there. With a satisfied smile, he walked away.


	22. Chapter 22

Tony and Natasha were walking along the corridor of the 25th floor. They came to a mahogany brown door with a secured lock. In Tony’s mask, he saw an X-ray vision of the room and noticed a person sitting in a chair. His mask lifted up. 

“One person inside,” he reported in a soft voice.

Natasha placed a device on the lock and pushed a button. She took a few steps backwards, as a yellow light on the device started flickering.

“Guys, we’ve found Julia,” they heard Sam in the comms.

Natasha let out a relieved breath while Tony furrowed his brows.

“Good work, Sam. Bring her to the QuinJet as fast as you can,” Steve said in the comms. “As soon as we find Pepper, we leave.”

Tony shook his head and stomped away from Natasha. She ran up to him and grabbed his arm. He stopped and looked at her, annoyed.

“Where are you going?”

“Going to search for Pepper before the Living Dead Girl finds her.”

“Tony, Julia won’t harm Pepper when she’s herself.” 

She tried to calm down Tony with a soft voice as she looked him in the eyes. He jerked his arm out of her grip.

“Could you believe she’s her fucking self?” he hissed.

A bleep caught their attention. They looked in the direction of the sound. The device on the door had done its job and the door was now unlocked and slightly ajar. 

“I need you in this mission, Tony. Don’t leave me behind,” she pleaded, softly.

Explosions sounded in the distance, and the building shook under their feet. This seemed to persuade Tony to stay. He reluctantly went into the room, covering Natasha who aimed her gun towards a desk. An office chair with a high back turned around and revealed Madame HYDRA with a glass of champagne in her hand. When the chair had turned she placed her feet on the desk.

“Mr. Stark, such a pleasure meeting you.” 

She greeted him before taking a sip of her drink. She gasped and blinked rapidly when she saw Natasha behind Iron Man.

“Natasha! What a surprise! It’s so good to see you after so many years.”

Tony looked between the green haired woman and Natasha in confusion. Natasha still had her gun aimed at the Madame.

“You know this chick?”

“Her name is Ophelia Sarkissian. We were students in the Red Room. Her specialty is seducing and torturing,” Natasha explained after she released a sigh. “Almost took my life during an exam.”

Madame smirked while taking another sip of her drink. Tony internally panicked, scared she might have tortured his Pepper. 

“Okay, Medusa, tell me one thing and we’re gone. Where’s my Pepper?” Tony demanded after he gathered all his inner courage.

“Medusa?” The Madame called out, surprised, followed by a laugh. “You may call me Madame HYDRA. You see, Daniel Whitehall gave me that name,” the villain explained as she gazed at her half full glass. “Or shall I say…. Werner Reinhardt?”

More panic developed in Tony’s chest, though he hoped he was showing his poker face.

“Once again, where’s my Pepper?” he growled.

“Update, Julia has been shot,” they heard over the comms.

Natasha’s mouth tightening slightly and her spine stiffening as she heard the news. The Madame noticed it.

“What’s the matter, Natasha? Are your emotions taking over again?” she asked, amused. “It has always been your weakness.”

“Bring her to the QuinJet as fast as you can,” they heard Simmons say. 

Madame HYDRA glanced back at Tony.

“You can find your lady in the basement. You can take the elevator to the parking garage. There you’ll find an entrance to a second basement. Be careful of the rats out there.”

“Dr. Banner and I will set things up for surgery immediately.”

Suddenly, Tony snapped the mask of his suit shut and blasted himself through the window, into the darkness of the night. On his way to save his loved one. Another explosion sounded from far away. 

“Tony, don’t…” Natasha yelled at the departing Iron Man, but a kick of a high heeled shoe into her face interrupted her. 

“FRIDAY, activate the prepared hack,” Tony ordered his AI while rushing into the air.

“Hack activated,” FRIDAY confirmed.

“Barton, to the parking garage! Help me find a secret basement. Pepper is there!”

* * *

Clint and Steve were sneaking through an empty hallway. They had just gotten the news about Julia being injured, and Simmons advised them to bring her to the QuinJet, as soon as possible.

“Barton, to the parking garage! Help me find a secret basement. Pepper is there!” a panicked Tony followed in Clint’s ear. 

Clint was gazing at the back of Captain America.

“Sam, go through the outside if it is possible,” Steve told in the comms.

The Captain waited for a confirmation.

“Sam, do you copy?” 

The comms were silent. That meant, for Clint, that Tony’s plan was in progress and the hack had succeeded. He sneakily left the leader and ran off. Steve turned around and saw Clint running away. 

“Clint!” Steve called out.

Quickly, Clint turned around and shot an arrow into the floor. It exploded and a thick cloud of smoke escaped from the arrow. Steve hid behind his shield. Then the smoke dispersed. 

Clint was gone.

* * *

There was panic around the QuinJet after the announcement that Julia got hurt. Peter’s Spidey Sense went off and seconds later, he and Ant-man found themselves surrounded by soldiers of HYDRA. The two Avengers started to fight to defend the QuinJet.

In the meantime, Simmons and Bruce set up medical equipment. Simmons pulled a stretcher out of the wall of the QuinJet, while Bruce checked the electronic life support machines and medications.

“Wait!” Simmons suddenly called out. “She can cure herself by touching people, right?”

“Yes, but last time she was wearing an Inhibitor Collar that could damp her powers,” Bruce explained while he filled a needle with anesthetic.

Simmons jogged to the communication system in the dashboard of the QuinJet and made contact.

“Sam, can you hear me?”

Silence. Simmons saw something extraordinary in their communication system. All the lights of the readout were red instead of green.

“Why is it offline?” she wondered.

She pushed at some buttons, trying to get it back online.

“Nothing is working. It looks like we’ve been hacked.”

Bruce blinked in confusion.

“By who?” he asked.

“I don’t know. But I do know somebody who can fix it.”

Simmons took out her cell phone and dialed a number. She waited impatiently until her call gets answered. The person on the other end of the line picked up with a hello.

“Fitz, we need your help. The communication system of the QuinJet has been hacked during a mission. I need you to get it back online,” Simmons explained to the person on the other end of the line.

“Okay, give me five minutes,” a young man answered.

Simmons suddenly became desperate.

“We don’t have five minutes, Fitz! Somebody got shot and is probably bleeding to death!”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be quick. Hang on!” Fitz said, nearly panicked when he heard Simmons's scared tone of voice.

Simmons waited anxiously for the lights to turn green.

In the meantime, Spiderman and Ant-man were outside fighting the HYDRA soldiers. The soldiers surrounded the two Avengers during their attack. Ant-Man switched from tiny to normal size in rapid succession during the fight, while Spiderman shot his webs and swung from place to place. The group of soldiers grew larger as they were coming from each direction. The two Avengers didn’t notice a few of the intruders could come closer to the QuinJet.

“Barton, to the parking garage! Help me find a secret basement. Pepper is there!” Spiderman heard Tony in the comms.

Quickly the teenager glanced at his fellow Avenger and saw no reaction from him. He knew the hack by his mentor had been successful.

“Mr. Stark, anything I can do?” he asked quietly in the comms during his fight.

“You better stay there, kid. I don’t want you to ruin my plan,” the teen boy heard.

Inside the QuinJet, the lights of the communication system remained stubbornly red, despite Jemma gazing hard at them and trying to persuade them to change.

The waiting was interrupted by a shot from the tailgate, hitting the QuinJet’s dashboard. Simmons shrieked in shock, ducked and crawled away to avoid more shots. Bruce looked up and saw a small group of HYDRA soldiers sneaking into the jet, shooting at the doctors and to damage the aircraft.

“Okay, here we go again,” Bruce snarled and ran up to the soldiers.

While he was running he turned into his alter ego, The Hulk. He turned green, his muscles grew and shifted and bulged. He roared and grabbed a soldier by the throat and threw him out of the aircraft. His height increased and he nearly bumped his head against the ceiling. Simmons looked at the green giant with wide eyes, while Hulk went outside in rage after he threw out all of the sneaky intruders, leaving pieces of his clothing behind.

“Hurry up, Fitz! Everything’s getting out of control here!” Simmons begged.

* * *

Bucky was running through the hallways, as fast he could. Thoughts about Julia went through his mind. _How bad is it this time? Will she be alive when I reach her?_

He saw Sam and Wanda running towards him.

“Sam!” Bucky called out and noticed Julia wasn’t with them, as they stopped running. “Where is she?”

Sam was panting, while searching for his words. He looked desperately at Bucky.

“What’s wrong?” Bucky asked worriedly. “Where’s Julia?”

Sam did his best to stay calm so Bucky wouldn't freak out when he explained the situation.

“She wanted to be left behind. She remembered Pepper and wants to save her by herself,” he explained. 

“While she’s bleeding to death? Sam, you can’t do this!” Bucky snapped.

“I was able to close her wound. She isn’t bleeding anymore,” Wanda reassured him. 

“Julia said she could be cured by those Terrigen Crystals, so we left her with them,” Sam continued.

“Also I managed to get the control device out of her back with my powers.”

Bucky listened with confusion as he glanced between them.

Suddenly a wall behind them exploded. They covered their heads with their arms to protect themselves from flying debris. The blond Inhuman showed up again.

“Not him again!” Bucky whined as he recognized him.

“You better find and help Julia. Down the hall to the left, there is a door with a yellow-black electrical shock hazard sign,” Sam said in a rush. “We’ll take care of him.”

Bucky nodded and ran off, while Sam and Wanda shared a grim smile before assuming a battle stance. With a cry, the Inhuman sprang forward and Wanda thrust her hands out, powerful red energy stopping the Inhuman in his tracks, leaving him vulnerable to a heavy blow from Sam's fist. They had this guy covered.

Once again, Bucky was running as fast as he could into the bright white hallway of the facility.

After a while of running he almost tripped over the dead scientist, Rudolf. Bucky gazed at him in slight disgust as he saw foam dripping from his mouth. When he went slowly further, he noticed drops of blood on the floor. He assumed it was Julia’s blood. With closed eyes he sighed and tried to ignore the image of Julia dying. Then he continued his search.

“Couldn’t they create shorter hallways, dammit?” he mumbled annoyed during his run.

He saw some blue glowing lights coming out of an open area and slowed down his speed. Bucky entered the blue glowing room and saw a stone-like body close by a glass fridge that was surrounded with broken blue crystals. Carefully, he went closer. His eyes widened as he identified the person. He dropped to his knees next to it and touched its shoulder.

“Julia? Oh my god. No,” he said sadly.

He took a deep breath in, lips thinning into a flat line as he expelled the air out of his nose. He repeated the action, trying to center his emotions as his thoughts raced. He placed a finger on his comms.

“I need help. I’ve found Julia but she’s like a statue. I don’t know what to do!”

A silence followed.

“Can anybody hear me?” 

Still a silence. Anxiety rose in his veins. 

“Steve? Bruce? Somebody?”

Behind him he heard a growl. When Bucky glanced over his shoulder, he saw a tiger. His eyes widened as he saw the creature was three times bigger than the tiger he once saw in The Bronx Zoo. The animal roared in his face and jumped up at the former Winter Soldier. It took him by the legs and dragged him out of the room. Quickly he aimed his M-249 machine gun, pulled the trigger and a bullet hit its paw. The animal growled in pain this time. 

Suddenly it jumped up at Bucky again. He fought off its fangs that were snapping at his head. The tiger brought up its large paw and a sharp claw went across Bucky’s face, leaving a deep scratch on his cheekbone. After that, it slapped the machine gun out of the soldier’s hands and nipped his arm. In a quick moment, Bucky placed his feet against the tiger’s abdomen and kicked it off him, while it had his arm in its jaws and ripped off his metal limb. 

The tiger landed on its paws. A round of gunshots followed and with a roar the tiger collapsed limp into the floor, dropping the metal arm. Bucky placed his SIG Sauer gun back into his holster while breathing heavily. He noticed the tiger slowly change into a young woman with orange hair with black stripes in it. He looked at the place where his metal arm once was, while blood flowed over his cheek. Wires, sparking with electricity came out of his shoulder but he had no pain compared with his previous, bionic arm. He could stand up and turn around to return to Julia.

Suddenly he saw the blond Inhuman again, who he had left behind with Sam and Wanda. Bucky saw that his right eye was swollen, his shirt was ripped and he had abrasions on his cheekbones and jaw. A pillar next to the unknown man was already glowing heavily.

“NO!” Bucky yelled and a second later the object exploded.

It blasted Bucky through a wall, into the darkness of the night. The Inhuman gazed out of the gap and watched, amused, at how Bucky fell towards his death, before leaving. 

A moment later, stone crumbled from Julia’s face, clearing from her mouth, nose and eyes. With a gasp of air, she quickly sat up and the rest of the rocks broke off her body. With wide eyes, she looked around the area. In the corner of the room she saw a pile of duffle bags. She could remember she had placed her personal belongings in such a bag when she got into HYDRA. Her legs were still numb, but she could move them. Pulling herself up by the fridge, she got on her feet. Carefully she stumbled to the pile of bags. She grabbed one bag and opened it. She saw a sweater and a pair of jeans, a school bag, a wallet and a cellphone. She took out the wallet and opened it. In there she found two ID’s with a picture of herself but with different dates of birth, 1999 and 2001. She remembered her mother telling her. 

_“You were born on December 10 2001, at 3:41pm.”_

She placed the items back into the bag and placed it over her shoulder.  
When Julia walked out of the room, she noticed a machine gun.

“This will come in handy,” she whispered to herself and picked up the weapon.

But then she saw three engraved letters: JBB. Immediately, her mind made a connection: _James Buchannan Barnes. Bucky._ Her fingers trailed over the letters as she felt her heart cracking in her chest. Julia shook her head to keep herself from crying. With a firm hold on the machine gun, she left the room. In the hallway, she saw a lifeless woman.

“What the hell happened here?” she wondered softly.

Her heart stopped for a moment when she saw a dark blue metal arm with golden stripes, close by the head of the woman. 

“Oh my god. No,” Julia gasped.

As fast and steady as possible she went to the metal limb. She dropped on her knees and gazed at it while tears welled up in her eyes. She linked her hand into Bucky’s lost metal limb, threaded her fingers together into his hand.

“Bucky?” she quietly sobbed as she brought the lost limb close to her face and embraced it. 

_“You always stand up and fight,”_ she heard Sam’s voice in her head.

Julia gathered some guts by taking a deep breath. Carefully, while trying not to damage Bucky's arm any further, she placed it in her duffle bag. Julia got back on her feet, with the bag over her shoulder. She glanced at the massive hole in the wall. She became curious about it but reminded herself it wouldn’t be a good idea to take a peek because of being unbalanced, caused by her numb legs. Instead she continued running as quickly and steadily as she could on her own mission.

* * *

Bucky felt the wind whiz past his ears as he kept on falling. Then he felt the air vibrating and it slowed down the speed of his fall. Carefully and gently he landed on the asphalt. 

“My god, you’re bleeding. Are you okay?” he heard Daisy asking worriedly as he gazed up at the floor he blasted out from.

“She’s a statue,” he stuttered numbly.

Daisy helped him get up.

“Were there blue crystals?”

Bucky nodded, a bit absently. The image of a mummified Julia was stuck in his thoughts.

“She’s in Terrigenesis. She’ll be okay,” Daisy explained. She noticed his metal arm was gone. “Your arm!” she said in shock.

“Don’t care about the damn arm. I want Julia to be safe,” the mourning man mumbled. “We need to go back. That Inhuman is with her now.”

Without questioning further, Daisy followed the soldier back into the building. They entered the ground floor and saw a small, hidden elevator.

“This building has a basement?” Bucky wondered.

“Maybe.”

His mind was with Julia again. If Daisy was telling the truth about Julia not getting hurt during the Terrigenesis then it wouldn’t be a problem discovering this secret floor. He even hoped Julia would be found by the other Avengers.

“Let’s find out. Who knows what we’ll find there?” he said.

They went into the elevator and went to the lowest floor, the parking garage. After leaving the elevator they sneaked around the parking lot. In the distance, Daisy noticed an emergency door was open with a burned electronic keypad on the ground. Together they walked through the entrance and noticed a staircase. Bucky went in first walking down the spiral, metal stairs, followed by Daisy. Below the staircase was another open door. A security lock was on the ground. With aimed guns, they went through the entrance. What they saw was horrifying. A dark, musty hallway with cells. Just a few light bulbs gave some illumination. But there was no guard in sight.

“It’s like Siberia in here,” Bucky noticed. “But what a weird place for a staircase.”

Daisy noticed a few bloody shoe prints on the floor.

“Buck, look.”

Bucky turned around and saw the footprint Daisy was looking at. He crouched next to it to have a better look. 

“Who could it be?” Daisy wondered.

Bucky tried to remember whose shoes could have this profile. He looked aside and saw more of the same print.

“I don’t know but let’s follow them,” Bucky suggested as he went back on his feet. “Who knows who we’ll meet and what else we will discover.”

* * *

The Madame attacked Natasha with sweeping kicks. Natasha fought back but was crashed into a wall and slump to the ground. The green haired lady held her high heeled shoe against Natasha’s throat.

“Since you left the Red Room your fighting got sloppy, Natasha. How come?”

Natasha broke free from her attacker by grabbing her knee and swung her away. With a cartwheel, Ophelia landed on her feet.

“That was smart, dorogaya (dear.) What else do you have in store?”

Natasha aimed her gun at the villain again. The concussion she still suffered from, made her view blurry and a headache was growing. Madame Hydra saw Nat blinking her eyes and thus deduced that she was getting weaker. With a devilish smile on her lips, she picked up a side table and threw it towards Natasha. The Avenger couldn’t react fast enough and the furniture smashed into her. She fell to the carpet, losing consciousness. Madame HYDRA walked to the former spy and gazed at her.

“Such an Avenger,” she hissed and left.


End file.
